New York – Former President Barack Obama will deliver a graduation speech for 2020 generation high school students (promotion) to be broadcast primetime at a one-hour event featuring LeBron James, Malala Yousafzai and Bad Bunny, among others.
ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC will simultaneously air the special on May 16 at 8 p.m. Along with more than 20 other networks and streaming platforms, organizers announced Tuesday.
I’ve always loved joining commencements –– the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice. Even if we can’t get together in person this year, Michelle and I are excited to celebrate the nationwide Class of 2020 and recognize this milestone with you and your loved ones. pic.twitter.com/ngR2ykx3A2
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– Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 5, 2020
Several students from Chicago public schools and the Obama Youth Jobs Corps support initiative will participate, as will Ben Platt, the Jonas Brothers, Yara Shahidi, Lena Waithe, Pharrell Williams, Megan Rapinoe, and H.E.R.
The event is titled “Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020” and is organized by the group of educational activists XQ Institute, The LeBron James Family Foundation and The Entertainment Industry Foundation.
Obama will talk about how COVID-19 affected school life, especially for seniors who were left without celebrating that important rite of passage.
“This high school graduation season will be totally different, but for all the more reason the Generation 2020 deserves extraordinary advice, sincere support and deep wisdom about facing new challenges in an uncertain world,” said Russlynn Ali, CEO and co-founder of the XQ Institute, in a statement.
“We are grateful to President Obama for giving us this gift for the nation’s three million graduates,” he added.
