EMU Today

YPSILANTI – As seniors around the country wrap up their final year of high school, many traditions look quite different in this time of COVID-19. For members of the class of 2020, this is the not the culmination to their senior year that they expected, and this is not the graduation celebration they imagined.

This time of year, many school communities would normally be coming together to wish their senior class well, offering ceremonies and festivities to celebrate the class of 2020. While this is not an option for most at this time, many communities have rallied together to find a way to honor their graduates – from billboards and yard signs featuring grads to drive-through ceremonies and nationally televised commencement speeches.

But celebrations with friends, family, Dr. Seuss quotes (“Oh! The places you will go.”), and Vitamin C’s iconic Graduation (Friends Forever) will not be the norm this year.

To acknowledge the class of 2020, Eastern Michigan University wants to provide grads with a virtual celebration. Using filters on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, students can share a picture or video of themselves in a graduation cap. With various banners to choose from and balloons and confetti to boot, new graduates will have the chance to take that commencement cap selfie to share with their friends and family.

The social media filters offer an augmented reality experience, allowing the students to engage with their images. The filters will include:

• Graduation cap with tassel (when the user smiles, the tassel will move to the other side of the cap).
• Several options for banners.
• Confetti and balloons that will activate when the student smiles.
• “Pomp and Circumstance” playing in the background

Eastern Michigan University has shared this platform with its admitted students from the class of 2020, but the filters are free and available for anyone to use. The University invites all students to share, using the hashtag #EGrad2020.

*Note that the filters are only available to view and use on mobile devices.

Facebook filter

Instagram filter

Snapchat filter

To the class of 2020, congratulations from Eastern Michigan University; (virtual) hats off to you!

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.