NEW YORK (BRPROUD) — Grammy-winning musician Taylor Swift will receive an honorary doctorate from New York University (NYU), the university announced on Monday.
“An 11-time Grammy winner, Ms. Swift is one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation,” the university says. “She is the only female artist in history to win the music industry’s highest honor, the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, three times.”
NYU says that Taylor Swift will receive an honorary degree for a Doctor of Fine Arts at the morning ceremony. She will also address the graduates and guests on behalf of all the degree recipients for the Class of 2022.
The traditional morning ceremony will be held for this year’s class at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18 at Yankee Stadium. A combined ceremony for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 will be at 6 p.m. on the same day.
“I cannot overstate how thrilled I am to be coming together in person with graduates, parents, faculty, and honorees for NYU’s Commencement. Since 2019, we have been deprived of Commencement’s festive, communal joy, and its absence has been keenly felt,” said NYU President Andrew Hamilton in an official press release.
Judith Heumann, a disability rights advocate, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the evening ceremony. She will deliver the degree recipients’ addresses to the Classes of 2020 and 2021.
“Few groups of graduates are more deserving of a celebration than these classes: their pursuit of their studies disrupted, isolated by a daunting pandemic, these classes — 2022, 2021, and 2020 — have distinguished themselves with their grit, grace, and forbearance,” Hamilton said. “We reconvene at Yankee Stadium with a renewed sense of appreciation for the act of celebrating together in person, a recognition of our graduates’ enormous achievements, and a respect for their character and perseverance.”
The Empire State Building will be lit in NYU violet on Tuesday, May 17 in honor of the graduates.
More honorary degree recipients for the Class of 2022 include:
- Susan Hockfield – Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Emerita and Professor of Neuroscience, Doctor of Science
- Félix V. Matos Rodríguez – Chancellor of the City University of New York, Doctor of Humane Letters
- Lonnie G. Bunch III – Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Doctor of Humane Letters
- Jill Lepore – Harvard professor, author, and journalist, Doctor of Humane Letters