Hernán Díaz Alonso opens the virtual ceremony by welcoming and congratulating graduates, staff, faculty, and guests tuning in from around the globe: “We could not be more excited or filled with more pride and hope to see you move through what has been the culmination of your SCI-Arc career, compounded by a soldiering through of incredibly challenging times. … From a global pandemic to national uprisings for racial justice, this is proof that no matter the situation, no matter what obstacles we’re presented with, being an architect is about navigating the reality we are a part of in order to shape the larger cultural context; an opportunity you have each embraced in unparalleled ways.”

At 5:15. Commencement speaker Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the graduating students, “to ask yourself what are the values and the models that you are developing as you organize your own work, when many of the models and the values in computing, in entertainment, in education, in politics, in healthcare are indeed failing us—they are just insufficient to meet the needs of the majority of people in our society.” She encouraged them to seize the opportunities opening at this time: ““It’s an incredible moment to graduate in 2020, … when so many of these systems are failing to step into the vacuum to envision and propose, to organize and enact new kinds of value-based systems; a moment where we get to imagine a future for ourselves in ways that the world doesn’t encourage us to do.”

At 23:23. Alumna Deborah Garcia (B.Arch ’17) presents a cinematic journey from the familiar landscapes of Los Angeles to the Earth in space.

At 32:10. Graduating M.Arch 1 candidate Vincent Yung calls on his 2020 classmates to continue “to practice normalizing the discomfort of doing unfamiliar things.”

At 43:20. Wesley Evans from the SCI-Arc Student Union (STUN) reads a statement against anti-Black violence.

At 45:23. John Enright announces awards for students of the 2020 graduating class:

SCI-Arc Service Awards: Joy Dai (M.Arch 1), Alejandro Loor (B.Arch), Jonathan Warner (M.Arch 2)

Alpha Rho Chi Medal: Nancy Ai (B.Arch)

Henry Adams Medal: Nancy Ai (B.Arch), Christina Griggs (M.Arch 2)

At 49.10. Starting with the Admissions office, SCI-Arc staff and faculty of congratulate the 2020 graduates. More congratulations appear throughout the rest of the video.

At 51:28. Tom Wisombe presents the B.Arch diplomas. Instead of the traditional walk across the stage, each student presents a brief personal video.

B.Arch Graduation with distinction: Nancy Ai, Dutra Brown, Ka Leung Wilson Chan, Alexander Kardanovskiy, Pei-Shin Phoebe Ou-Yang

At 59:00. Elena Manferdini presents the M. Arch 1 and M. Arch 2 diplomas.

M.Arch 1 Graduation with distinction: Zoe Małecki, Robert Sipchen, Vincent Yung

M.Arch 2 graduation with distinction: Christine Griggs, Grigorios Kokkotis, Richard Mapes, Justine Poulin, Jonathan Warner

At 1:12:41. David Ruy presents the Post-graduate program diplomas.

MS Architectural Technologies graduation with distinction: Jules Benillouche, Tucker van Leuwen-Hall, Polina Timchenko

MS Design Theory and Pedagogy graduation with distinction: Soledad Chamorro, Frederik Emil Seehusen

MS Design of Cities graduation with distinction: Romano Ian Dayagbil, Anush Harutyunyan, Shanar Moslehy, Alonso Toledo

MS Fiction and Entertainment graduation with distinction: Suyang Ina Chen, Richard Cottrell, James Halliwell, Meryem Lahlou, Christian Pepper, Andre Zakhya

At 1:22:56. Hernán Díaz Alonso presents the merit awards for thesis projects:

B.Arch thesis merit award: Ana Antoni + Andrea Velasco, Dutra Brown, Ka Leung Wilson Chan / Yipeng Liu / Zixiao Kiwi Zhu, Sicheng Dex Hu + Nicholas Wu, Nandar Sally Lwin, Chuwen Ong, Hongjian Qin + Chi Fong (Jacky) Wong, Sarangan Sinarajah

M. Arch 1 thesis merit award: Wendy Guerrero, Sam Kaufman, Ryusuke Rish Saito, Robert Sipchen, Vincent Yung

M. Arch 2 thesis merit award: Linzi Ai + Jui-Cheng Hung, Christina Griggs, Liu Qiao

Hsinming Fung and Craig Hodgetts Postgraduate Thesis Prize: Soledad Chamorro (Design Theory and Pedagogy), Ian Romano Dayagbil (Design of Cities), Tucker van Leuwen-Hall (Architectural Technologies), Andre Zakhya (Fiction and Entertainment)

Blythe and Thom Mayne Undergraduate Thesis Prize: Abel Maqueira + Phoebe Ou-Yang

SCI-Arc Gehry Prize for best graduate thesis: Saleh Jamsheer (M.Arch 2), Zoe Małecki (M.Arch 1), Richard Mapes (M.Arch 2), Justine Poulin (M.Arch 2), Irvin Shaifa (M.Arch 2)

At 1:40.52. Commencement 2020 concluded with a Zoom dance party, featuring DJ Shuga Shay (a few minutes of which are presented here).