Virtual Celebrations to Honor the Class of 2020

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Get ready to honor the Class of 2020! The UMass Amherst community is coming together for a series of virtual celebrations starting today, May 7. For undergraduates, the culminating event will be a 20-minute streaming video presentation on Friday at 4:30 p.m. EDT, which can be viewed at www.umass.edu/umass2020 or as a Facebook Live event at www.facebook.com/UMassAmherst.

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy will lead a tribute that honors the graduating class, including musical performances and some special surprise guests you won’t want to miss. Featured speakers are UMass President Marty Meehan; the 2020 student speaker, Grace Jung, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Wakefield; and the keynote speaker for the future on-campus ceremony, UMass alumnus John Jacobs ’90, co-founder and chief creative optimist of Life Is Good.

For graduate students, on May 8 the Graduate School will celebrate all of this year's graduates starting at 9 a.m. EDT on the Graduate School’s website. The celebration will include a video from Dean Barbara Krauthamer and Chancellor Subbaswamy; Graduate Student Speaker Yolanda Wiggins giving her speech; and an electronic version of the Commencement Program. 

The schools and colleges will also be sharing video tributes and celebrating graduates on their social media channels. Information is available on school and college websites. 

Graduates are encouraged to wear their caps and gowns or their favorite UMass gear and to post photos and videos using #UMassTogether and #UMass2020.

The University Store is also offering a special discount for the Class of 2020 at www.umassstore.com.

In addition, the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center in partnership with the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs will present a virtual dance party featuring a DJ set by four-time Grammy Award winning artist ?uestlove tonight at 8. The event is the Fine Arts Center’s way to congratulate the Class of 2020 and celebrate the whole campus community for stepping up in the face of the coronavirus crisis. The event will stream for free at www.facebook.com/UMassfineArtsCenter.

These online events do not replace the traditional campus ceremonies, which will be rescheduled for an appropriate date after restrictions on large gatherings are lifted.