Graduation day is meant to be a landmark moment for those who’ve spent the last however many months (years?) crammed in libraries with heavy textbooks and little sleep. But with schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, many students across the world are missing out on this important milestone – until now.
YouTube has announced that it will be hosting a virtual graduation ceremony, dedicated to the class of 2020. “We know how hard you’ve worked to make it to graduation and we want to give you a celebration you deserve,” read an announcement on Instagram.
Taking place on June 6, the event – which is in collaboration with Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative, the Born This Way Foundation, Malala Fund, the Today Show on NBC, and Ideas United – will bring the likes of the Obamas, Lady Gaga, BTS, Zendaya, Chloe x Halle, and Malala Yousafzai to the podium. While some will be delivering speeches, others will perform one-off shows, so keep your eyes peeled.
The virtual ceremony is described as a “multi-hour” event, which either means it will be staggered across separate time zones, or it’s going on for a fair few hours. Either way, it beats sipping lukewarm prosecco and clapping to the speech of a minor celebrity or a local MP.
Earlier this year, we spoke to some of the students affected by the pandemic. Watch our video on the class of COVID-19 here.