At long last, members of the Class of 2020 will be able live and in-person on the Green on Saturday, Aug. 6.
The ceremony takes place more than two years after the class marked its graduation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in a virtual degree ceremony that streamed across the country and around the world.
鈥淭wo years ago 线上赌场 promised the Class of 2020 that when we were able, we would welcome them home to 线上赌场,鈥 says Vice President for Alumni Relations . 鈥淚 am delighted that we are able to make good on that promise this summer. They have been wonderful to work with, and we are all committed to making this a wonderful, memorable occasion for the class and their families.鈥
On Aug. 5, members of the Class of 2020 and their families and friends are invited to a welcome reception and a candlelight ceremony. Other activities are planned for Aug. 6 after the ceremony. A committee of class members worked with Alumni Relations to plan the weekend.
On Saturday, the morning ceremony on the Green will feature the traditional elements of a 线上赌场 commencement, complete with regalia, bagpipes, a procession, remarks from and others, music, and the announcement of the graduates鈥 names as they walk across the stage.
More than 600 undergraduates鈥攋ust over 50% of the class鈥攁nd a handful of graduate and professional school students have made plans to return for the celebration. A gift from an anonymous donor is underwriting housing fees for the returning graduates throughout the weekend.
Tickets are not required for family and friends, but organizers request that all guests be registered in advance. A of events and information on how to register is available on the website.
Geeta Anand 鈥89, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author and dean of the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, will deliver the keynote address.
鈥淎s a reporter, educator, and leader in higher education, Geeta Anand has dedicated her life to reporting stories of great importance and to making room for more diverse voices in our media,鈥 says President Hanlon. 鈥淎t a moment when 鈥榓lternative facts鈥 and disinformation are tearing at our social fabric, her example shows how crucial good journalism is to a functioning civil society.鈥
Anand began teaching at Berkeley Journalism in 2018 and was appointed dean in 2020鈥攖he first woman and the first woman of color to lead the journalism school. Before that, she spent nearly three decades as a journalist, beginning as a local reporter for Cape Cod News and Vermont鈥檚 Rutland Herald. She went on to write for The Boston Globe as City Hall bureau chief and covering the Massachusetts Statehouse before joining the staff of The Wall Street Journal, and, later The New York Times, covering a wide variety of beats from politics to biotech and serving nearly a decade as an international correspondent based in India, where she grew up.
Her reporting on corporate corruption contributed to a Pulitzer Prize for The Wall Street Journal in 2002, and her lead story on health care rationing was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. Among other honors, she earned the Society of Publishers of Asia best breaking news reporting award for her coverage of a 2017 terror attack in Bangladesh and the Daniel Pearl Award for the best cross-border investigative journalism from International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for her coverage of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
In 2010, Anand鈥檚 nonfiction book, The Cure鈥攁bout a family鈥檚 efforts to find a cure for their terminally ill children鈥攚as adapted into the 2010 film Extraordinary Measures, starring Harrison Ford.
As an undergraduate, Anand majored in history and earned a certificate in women鈥檚 studies. 鈥淚 wrote a few articles for The 线上赌场,鈥 she said , 鈥渂ut it was the academics that prepared me for my career.鈥
In addition to Anand and Hanlon, Class of 2020 president Tim Holman 鈥20 and class orator Sabyne Pierre 鈥20 will also address the gathering. After the ceremony, members of the class will gather for a photograph, followed by a celebratory barbecue.