With graduations looking different this year due to coronavirus, the City University of New York (CUNY) is honoring their Class of 2020 with a special video.
CUNY posted an 18-minute video on their YouTube channel to congratulate the Class of 2020 for their achievements. The video features performances from students at the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College and The Macaulay Triplets, an a cappella ensemble from Macaulay Honors College, as well as congratulatory messages from a plethora of notable alumni.
The video also contains messages from valedictorians, salutatorians and commencement speakers representing the Class of 2020, and by Timothy Hunter, a student member of the CUNY Board of Trustees.
“I know this wasn’t the commencement season that the Class of 2020 was hoping for, but after all the hard work, tenacity and resilience that our graduates exhibited in the midst of a global pandemic, they deserve to be celebrated and honored in a unique way,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “Their passion, commitment and adaptability under the most trying of circumstances, even as our city and nation endured tragic losses, has been an inspiration to all of us. I know that in the future, we will come together in better times and with immense pride we will recall the great Class of 2020.”
Well-wishers for the Class of 2020 includes Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez; CUNY college presidents and deans; CUNY alumni like New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Congress Member Adriano Espaillat and comedian/actor Ray Romano; New York leaders such as Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; veteran broadcast journalist and producer Soledad O’Brien and Showtime talk show hosts Desus & Mero; public health officials Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases and a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
The video is available online in full or if you wish to watch individual segments, they can be found on a YouTube playlist here. Check out the full video below:
