Commencement 2020 on August 1, 2020, was different than any ceremony ever before. Rather than the normal crowd of 10,000 family and friends, the Von Braun Center allowed only 2300 people to enter the facility. Face coverings were required; some individuals chose to wear faceshields and gloves as well. The Class of 2020 sat in seats that had been placed 6 ft. apart.
Special music by the Aeolians was shared virtually, as well as the Commencement address by Dr. Eric Thomas. At the conclusion of the program, rather than marching into a crowd of well-wishers, all participants and their families were asked to exit the Von Braun Center directly to their vehicles after the ceremony.
A total of 371 of the brightest students in the world who entered to learn, and have now departed to serve. An additional four "guest" graduates participated in the ceremony on Saturday night. Guest graduates are defined as those who chose not to march at their respective institutions because of Sabbath observance and other scheduling concerns.
Here are some of the statistics about the Class of 2020:
• Oldest graduate 66 years old
• Youngest graduate 20 years old
Graduate Honors
• Summa Cum Laude
• Magna Cum Laude
• Cum Laude
• Honorable Mention
Top Schools
• School of Nursing & Health Professions
• School of Arts & Sciences
• School of Business
• School of Education & Social Sciences
• School of Religion
Top Majors
• General Studies
• Biology
• Organizational Management
• Social Work
• Nursing
Number of Graduates -- top five states
• Alabama
• Georgia
• California
• Florida
• New York
Countries of Origin -- top five
• United States
• Bahamas
• Canada
• Haiti
• Jamaica
Donors who participated in the OU All In 2020 COVID-19 Response Campaign, which provided funds necessary for all members of the Class of 2020 to graduate, were listed in the Commencement program.
Relive the excitement of the graduating class, their family and friends, by watching the archived Commencement ceremony, which was streamed on Facebook and YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af_WXQHDll... Additional photos can be found on flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakwoodunive...
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Monday, August 10th 2020 at 3:59PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
