‘Dear Class of 2020’: Date, speakers, performers, schedule and everything about YouTube’s graduation ceremony
With the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns that have resulted from it, an important cultural event that will be missing from the lives of young students across the U.S. and the world will be their high school and college graduation ceremonies. But there’s a solution to that and a pretty big one! Michelle and Barack Obama will headline ‘Dear Class of 2020’, YouTube Originals’ virtual commencement event to celebrate graduates worldwide.
"Graduation is a tradition that students and families look forward to and with the current state of the world, YouTube is lending some inspiration in the form of a virtual commencement," said Susanne Daniels, global head of content for YouTube. "We hope bringing together noteworthy, influential speakers along with performances from some of their favorite artists will provide encouragement for the students who have worked so hard to get here."
Event date:
The ‘Dear Class of 2020’ event premieres Saturday, June 6, on the YouTube Originals channel and the YouTube Learn@Home website.
What to expect:
As per reports, former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama will each deliver commencement speeches, as well as a joint speech to 2020 graduates. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Michelle Obama's Higher Reach initiative will host a full hour of content as well.
But it’s not just the Obamas who will be speaking at the event. Other commencement speakers include the K-pop boy band BTS, Lady Gaga, former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Nobel Laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai.
It’s not all speeches though. BTS, Alicia Keys, Kelly Rowland, Kerry Washington, Chloe x Halle, Zendaya, will have performances. YouTube creators like Jackie Aina, AsapSCIENCE, Dude Perfect, Mr. Kate, And The Try Guys too will take the stage.
Schedule:
YouTube’s full schedule of commencement events will be available on the Learn@Home site on May 17.
Similar events:
Facebook too is hosting a similar event on May 15 called ‘#Graduation 2020’. Oprah Winfrey will deliver the commencement speech. Other famous names such as Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X, and Simone Biles will also take the stage.
On the same day, Her Campus, a female-focused company that owns Spoon University, College Fashionista and InfluenceHer Collective, will host the event ‘I'm Still Graduating’. Eva Longoria, Radhika Jones, Margaret Cho, Brooke Baldwin, Liam Payne, Jesse McCartney, Andrew Yang, and Tamron Hall are set to speak and perform at the ceremony.