December 19, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Class of 2020 Commencement ceremony was held online in December of 2020.
The class of 2020 heard from two speakers: Noted literary scholar and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. and renowned human rights lawyer and Pomona College alumna Martina Vandenberg ’90. Gates and Vandenberg received an honorary degree by Pomona College during the College’s 127thcommencement exercises. Opera singer Jessye Norman, a multiple Grammy Award-winner, was recognized with a posthumous honorary degree during the commencement ceremony.
In addition, President G. Gabrielle Starr provided a Charge to the Class of 2020, while Khadijah Thibodeaux ’20, senior class president and Kyle Tyrell Knight Lee ’20, senior class speaker, addressed the audience.
May 21, 2022
Pomona College was thrilled to welcome back graduates from the Classes of 2020 and 2021 for Take Two: A Celebration of the Classes of '20 and '21 for in-person celebration events, including a special combined commencement ceremony. President G. Gabrielle Starr provided a charge to the Classes of 2020 and 2021, and the speaker for the Class of 2020 was Associate Professor of Chemistry Jane Liu.
The weekend schedule included festivities for graduates on Friday, May 20 and ended with brunch on Sunday, May 22. Families were invited to join their graduates in a day of Pomona traditions, including the special Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 21.