Even in the midst of a pandemic, Arizona State University’s fall 2020 graduates were encouraged to be happy about their achievements and were assured that they are ready for the future.
“I take great pride in the talent our students have demonstrated and the compassion our students have brought to the table,” ASU President Michael M. Crow said during the commencement video Monday morning. “I’ve seen tremendous creativity.
“We’ve had student groups build mobile distributed PPE manufacturing systems. We’ve seen huge student engagement in our missions off Earth. And we’ve seen huge development at the university in sustainable systems and sustainable technologies.”
MORE: Learn more about top-performing fall 2020 grads
The half-hour recording took the place of the commencement ceremony that is typically held on campus but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The video included images of graduates tossing their caps in their backyards and living rooms, along with other traditional elements: “Pomp and Circumstance,” guest speakers, the balloon drop and a flashback to the Class of 2020’s Sun Devil Welcome freshman rally in August 2016.
ASU is graduating 9,300 students this semester, including about 4,500 ASU Online graduates.
Besides the YouTube video, ASU also is providing an augmented reality commencement experience. Through a smartphone app, members of the Sun Devil community can bring the ceremony into their own homes, watching as the ceremonial mace is placed in front of them and speeches are presented in their living room. The ASU commencement app was created by students in ASU's Meteor Studio in coordination with the XR at ASU initiative.
MORE: Learn more about the student-created AR app
The Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU also featured a technology-enhanced ceremony. The online event took place within an immersive virtual reality rendering of Thunderbird’s new global headquarters, opening in August 2021. The commencement speaker appeared as a holographic projection within the virtual building, which mirrors the real headquarters under construction now at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus. That event can be viewed by anyone with access to a virtual reality headset or seen on YouTube.
In addition to the virtual commencement, colleges and schools also hosted virtual convocations on Monday morning. Those smaller ceremonies featured a special moment for each graduate with their name, photo, degree and a comment from them about their future.
In addition, the fall 2020 graduates can attend the May 2021 or December 2021 in-person commencement ceremonies if they wish.
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Clinical Associate Professor and President of the University Senate Simin Levinson presents the University Mace to start ASU’s virtual fall 2020 commencement Monday. Around 9,300 undergraduate and graduate students received their degrees, including about 4,500 ASU Online students, more than 700 Starbucks College Achievement Plan scholars and 17 from the second Uber cohort.
Screenshots by Charlie Leight/ASU
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The virtual commencement included a flashback to the Class of 2020’s Sun Devil Welcome freshman rally in August 2016.
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The ceremony highlighted important events from the Class of 2020's time at ASU, including when the university's Psyche Mission, a journey to a metal asteroid, was selected in January 2017 for flight, marking the first time the school will lead a deep-space NASA mission.
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The March 2018 opening of the Barrett & O’Connor Washington Center, the university's new home in Washington, D.C., was also spotlighted in the video.
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ASU's award-winning robotics submarine team, Desert WAVE, was also a highlight. In their rookie season, the all-female team placed first in the U.S. and third in the world at the 2019 International RoboSub Competition; this August, they took second place in the world.
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The Phoenix CubeSat, a mini spacecraft built by ASU students to study urban heat island effect, launched into space on Nov. 2, 2019, onboard the Antares II rocket as part of a Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station.
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During the virtual commencement Monday, Arizona Board of Regents chair Larry Penley told the graduates that with a degree, they will be better citizens and earn higher wages. “This is a new economy driven by a demand for higher skills, more capability than we’ve seen in the past and more thinking skills,” he said. “Your degree has prepared you for an economy based on those skills.”
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John Oyas, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association, speaks on ambition and achievement.
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Nora Thompson, president of the Downtown Phoenix campus' Undergraduate Student Government, congratulates the graduates during Monday's virtual ceremony.
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Executive Vice President and University Provost Mark Searle presents doctoral, master's and bachelor's candidates for conferral of their degrees Monday.
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The ASU Chamber Singers from the School of Music, Dance and Theatre sing the alma mater during the virtual ceremony.
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At non-pandemic fall commencements, large maroon and gold balloons drop at the end of the ceremony. The fall 2020 virtual commencement ended with the same visual.
Larry Penley, chair of the Arizona Board of Regents, told the graduates that with a degree, they will be better citizens and earn higher wages.
“Yes, a college degree is valuable even now in the face of a recession and this economy,” he said. “This is a new economy driven by a demand for higher skills, more capability than we’ve seen in the past and more thinking skills.
“Your degree has prepared you for an economy based on those skills.”
Crow reminded the graduates of ASU’s charter and its commitment to inclusion and community responsibility.
“I’m hopeful as you move forward that you take these lessons you have learned in the middle of the pandemic and be introspective about yourself,” he said.
“And that you sit back and say, ‘How can I have even more impact than I thought? How can my life be greater?’”
He asked the graduates to write their own charters.
“I ask you, in this moment of deep complexity, what is your charter and how will you live toward that charter?”
Find links to all the ceremonies at graduation.asu.edu/ceremonies/latest.
Top screenshot: ASU President Michael M. Crow speaks during the virtual commencement Monday.
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