Taylor Swift To Swap Cardigan For Doctoral Regalia As NYU Class Of ’22 Commencement Speaker

Her lyrics have moved millions, but this spring Taylor Swift’s words will be focused on the crowd in Yankee Stadium in a commencement speech to New York University’s Class of 2022. The 11-time Grammy winner will also receive an honorary doctorate of fine arts at the school’s graduation ceremony on May 18.

Said NYU President Andrew Hamilton in a statement released earlier today with graduation details that highlighted the accomplishments of Swift and other celebrated honorees and speakers, “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 Billboard chart-topping artist brings more than the celebrity factor to NYU’s first in-person celebration since 2019. A non-stop trailblazer, the 32-year-old’s accomplishments, determination and wisdom are the inspiration from which the best commencement speeches are made.

While Swift’s estimated 2020 earnings ($63.5M) and estimated net worth of $550M might showcase a success story, the barriers she’s broken and her challenging of stereotypes, bullies, and big business make for the best examples of success. She’s thought outside of the box, regrouped, and moved forward to write her own story.

Great commencement speeches have viral possibilities, talked about long after the initial impact on graduates and parents in attendance. Swift will join an impressive list of past NYU Commencement speakers including President Bill Clinton (2011), Sonia Sotomayor (2012), David Boies (2013), Janet Yellen (2014), Sherrilyn Ifill (2015), Darren Walker (2016), Pharrell Williams (2017), Justin Trudeau (2018), and Elizabeth Alexander (2019).

Of course Swift is no stranger to NYU students. This year, curriculum options at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music include a course focused on the “Fearless” artist and her influence.

May 18 will be a “Double Header” graduation day for NYU with the Class of 2022 ceremony occurring at 11:00 a.m., followed by a combined ceremony at 6 p.m. for the Classes of 2020 and 2021, whose events were postponed because of pandemic-related restrictions. Lifelong disability rights advocate Judith Heumann will deliver the commencement address in the later ceremony where she will receive a doctor of humane letters.

Other honorary degree recipients to be honored include Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie G. Bunch III and Harvard professor, author, and journalist Jill Lepore. Other honorary degree recipients being honored in the earlier ceremony include Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Emerita and Professor of Neuroscience Susan Hockfield and Chancellor of the City University of New York Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.