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...
