With the coronavirus pandemic bringing life to a standstill, and large gatherings being banned, it also meant that students around the world will have no graduation ceremony. To make up for it, YouTube announced a virtual graduation ceremony called ‘Dear Class of 2020’, which streamed on Sunday.
The event featured a star-studded lineup including Barack and Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and a performance by K-pop band BTS. The BTS band members also spoke of some of their heartfelt experiences and graduation memories. "Dear class of 2020, it's been a strange year so far but you made it. Today we might not have flowers, we might not have graduation caps, but what we do have is possibly the most special graduation ceremony in history," RM said in his speech.
The Obamas delivered opening speeches, highlighting the recent deaths of black men and women in the US, including George Floyd. Barack Obama called for students to look at the ongoing pandemic as an opportunity and a wake-up call. “In a lot of ways, the pandemic just brought into focus problems that have been growing for a very long time. Whether it’s widening economic inequality, the lack of basic health care for millions of people, the continuing scourge of bigotry and sexism, or the division or dysfunction that plagued our political system,” he said.
Barack Obama also talked about the importance of sharing right information in the age of social media.
Michelle Obama said that the last couple of months have been difficult, not just because of the pandemic, but ‘also by the rumbling of the age-old fault lines that our country was built on’. “Over these past couple of months, our foundation has been shaken,” she said. “Not just by a pandemic that stole too many of our loved ones, upended our daily lives and sent tens of millions into unemployment, but also by the rumbling of the age-old fault lines that our country was built on, the lines of race and power that are now once again so nakedly exposed for all of us to grapple with,” she said.
Beyonce delivered a powerful statement of the Black Lives Matter movement, and sexism in the entertainment industry. “The entertainment business is still very sexist. It’s still very male-dominated and as a woman, I did not see enough female role models given the opportunity to what I knew I had to do — to run my label, and management company, to direct my films and produce my tours that meant ownership, owning my masters, owning my art, owning my future and writing my own story,” she said.
Lady Gaga said her initial speech touched on the effect COVID-19 had on this year’s graduating class, but she wanted to speak more on Floyd’s death, the Black Lives Matter movement and racism in America. “While my original commencement speech may not be directly relevant to what this country needs most right now, I wish to tell you today that though there is much to be sad about, there is also much to celebrated,” she said. “You are watching what is a pivotal moment in this country’s evolution. … Change will happen, and it will be for the better,” she said.
