Taylor Swift to receive honorary doctorate from New York University
Taylor Swift is set to receive an honorary doctorate in fine arts from New York University.
The university will honour the singer on May 18 during their “doubleheader” 188th and 189th Commencement Exercises – which will celebrate the Classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 – at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
Swift will receive her doctorate – becoming a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa – and address the graduates and guests on behalf of all the degree recipients for the Class of 2022 during the morning ceremony.
Lifelong disability rights advocate Judith Heumann will also receive a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, during the evening ceremony, where she will address the Classes of 2020 and 2021.
“I cannot overstate how thrilled I am to be coming together in person with graduates, parents, faculty, and honourees for NYU’s Commencement,” NYU President Andrew Hamilton said in a statement.
“Since 2019, we have been deprived of Commencement’s festive, communal joy, and its absence has been keenly felt. 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.
“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.”
“Where The Crawdads Sing is a book I got absolutely lost in when I read it years ago,” Swift told her followers on Instagram. “As soon as I heard there was a film in the works starring the incredible Daisy Edgar Jones and produced by the brilliant Reese Witherspoon, I knew I wanted to be a part of it from the musical side.”
