Dr. Taylor Swift? Pop Star to Receive Honorary Doctorate From NYU
Taylor Swift is adding the title of (honorary) doctor to her already lengthy résumé as a global superstar, world-class entertainer and award-winning songwriter.
Swift is set to receive an honorary doctorate from New York University.
The university confirmed that on May 18, Swift will receive the prestigious Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa title during the school's commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium.
Per Variety, Swift will deliver an address to the graduating class of 2022 and be awarded the official honor on site.
In addition to her new doctorate, Swift is celebrating all the soon-to-be graduates with a new line of merch.
Calling back to one of her biggest hits, "22" off her Red album, Swift's "I'm Feeling '22" apparel line was unveiled on March 25.
You can check out the collection, which features graduation cap patches, stickers, T-shirts and more, on Swift's official web shop.
As reported by Variety, NYU is planning a "double-header" style ceremony to honor the students who also graduated in 2020 and 2021 but whose traditional graduation ceremonies were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Disability rights advocate Judith Heumann will deliver an address during the evening ceremony honoring the previously graduated classes. Huemann will also be awarded a doctoral honor.
Huemann also boasts an impressive résumé as the producer for The Heumann Perspective, a podcast that features members of the disability community. In addition, she was tapped with an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary at the 2021 Oscars for Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. She is also the author of Being Huemann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, which was released in 2020.
Other honorary doctorate recipients will include Lonnie Bunch III, Susan Hockfield, Jill Lepore and Félix Matos Rodriguez.
"I cannot overstate how thrilled I am to be coming together in person with graduates, parents, faculty and honorees for NYU's Commencement. Since 2019, we have been deprived of Commencement's festive, communal joy and its absence has been keenly felt," NYU President Andrew Hamilton said in a statement about the upcoming event.
"Few groups of graduates are more deserving of a celebration than these classes: their pursuit of their studies disrupted, isolated by a daunting pandemic, theses classes — 2022, 2021, and 2020 — have distinguished themselves with their grit, grace, and forbearance," Hamilton continued.
Hamilton said graduates and honorees will "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."