Erich Caulfield SM вЂ™01 PhD вЂ™06, president of the MIT Alumni Association, will offer a welcome to the association and introduce the scroll of graduatesвЂ™ names. The program concludes with the school song, led, as always, by the Chorallaries of MIT - with the finale of вЂњTake Me Back to TechвЂќ as a community-sourced sing-along, incorporating MIT voices submitted via video wherever they are in the world. Esther Duflo PhD вЂ™99, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics this past autumn, will offer a salute to the advanced degree candidates. Rafael Reif will give his charge to the graduates and confer degrees.

Following salutes from Graduate Student Council President Peter Su and Senior Class President Nwanacho Nwana, President L. Navy admiral and former chancellor of the University of Texas system. The speaking portion of the online Commencement program and degree conferral will open with remarks by Robert Millard вЂ™73, chair of the MIT Corporation, who will introduce guest speaker William H. Frederick Harris, lecturer in music and director of wind ensembles, provided artistic guidance. In reimagining the look and feel of Commencement, Institute Events invited Peter Agoos and Andrew Zamore of Agoos D*zines, with whom they had collaborated on the MIT150 and MIT2016 celebrations, to join the planning team. The Institute has always cherished its traditions, and the online program will incorporate as many as possible, including a digital version of the iconic turning of the Brass Rat class ring as students become alumni. вЂњWe donвЂ™t want to let the last three months overshadow studentsвЂ™ four to six years at MIT.вЂќ вЂњOne of the things the planning team has had in mind is balancing a natural feeling of loss and disappointment with the fact that graduating from MIT is a tremendous accomplishment,вЂќ says Larry Gallagher, senior producer and advisor to the vice president for open learning. In addition to the student greetings, MVP has developed a celebratory retrospective that will be part of the pre-program show. The pre-program will include greetings to family and friends submitted by students as part of a project organized by MIT Video Productions (MVP). Student government representatives recommended that the program not exceed one hour, although it will be preceded by an introductory pre-program show co-hosted by graduating seniors Talia Khan and Yaateh Richardson. In addition to ensuring that the technical elements function effectively, the planning team worked to develop a meaningful experience through which degree candidates become MIT alumni. The Commencement Committee recognized the challenge in creating a sense of occasion in an all-remote event. вЂњBy combining MITвЂ™s experience in digital technologies with the passion and ingenuity of the MIT community, I knew something amazing would emerge.вЂќ вЂњWeвЂ™ve spent the last two decades opening up MIT to the world virtually through online teaching and learning,вЂќ says Professor Sanjay Sarma, vice president for open learning. It helps that the Institute is equipped with an extensive toolkit for building online experiences.

Moving it online was a different kind of coordination, but thanks to the knowledge embedded in the team, it didn't feel like starting from scratch.' Running Commencement the normal way is a logistical tour de force, involving hundreds of people, many of whom who work all year to make it happen. Professor Eric Grimson, chancellor for academic advancement and chair of the Commencement Committee, says, 'We are in a fortunate position to adapt to this yearвЂ™s circumstances. The organizing team knew from the outset that the challenge would be to achieve the key moments of the Commencement ceremony in an online environment, without trying to recreate the in-person experience. Moving the tradition-rich celebration online without diminishing its significance, and with less than two months to plan, is a complex problem. In the finest MIT tradition of community-driven innovation, the Commencement Committee and a core group of engineers, technologists, and artists across campus are putting minds and hands to work to create a meaningful, engaging online Commencement experience for the Class of 2020.

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