Oprah to headline Facebook, Instagram graduation event

Student documents college graduation disruption amid COVID-19 pandemic

Jonah Deaton is a senior at Southeastern University, majoring in digital media and design.

Oprah will be the commencement speaker and Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X and Simone Biles will offer words of wisdom to the Class of 2020 in a multi-hour graduation streaming event on Facebook and Instagram on May 15.

Awkwafina speaks onstage at the Virtuosos Award presentation during the 35th Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on January 18, 2020 in Santa Barbara, California (Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for SBIFF)

The #Graduation2020 event will be broadcast on Facebook Watch, with some segments posted to the @instagram account on Instagram, along with the social media accounts of the contributors, according to the announcement Tuesday.

Miley Cyrus will sing her hit, “The Climb.” More special guests are expected.

The platforms will soon roll out graduation-themed stickers, filters and effects, along with ways families and friends can host private virtual celebrations using the new Facebook Rooms feature.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended graduation season with many schools scaling back, or in some cases canceling, traditional graduations.