Congratulations, Graduates!

On May 24, 2020, Wesleyan community members from around the world gathered together (virtually) to honor the indomitable graduating Class of 2020. View a recording of the 188th Commencement Ceremony below. Keep sharing your pride on social media—#WesGrad, #Wes2020, #TogetherWes—and look out for a commemorative box of Commencement keepsakes, including diplomas, to come in the mail. We are so proud of you. Go Wes graduates!

 

Listen to the reading of the graduates' names

 

Share a Message to the Graduating Class

Use the hashtags #WesGrad, #Wes2020, and/or #TogetherWes on social media or fill out the message form to congratulate the graduates.

Congratulate the Grads

Commencement Speakers

President Michael S. Roth ’78

Michael S. Roth '78 became the 16th president of Wesleyan University on July 1, 2007. A professor in history and the humanities, he continues to teach undergraduate courses and is known as a historian, curator, author, and public advocate for liberal education.

Read the President's Full Bio

Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson is the author of more than 30 award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children. Her New York Times best-selling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming—about her family and segregation in the South—was the 2014 National Book Award Winner, as well as the recipient of the prestigious Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, the NAACP Image Award, and a Sibert Honor.

Read Full Woodson Bio

Bradley Whitford ’81

Bradley Whitford ’81 is a classically trained and critically acclaimed theater, television, and film actor. Known for his Emmy Award–winning performance as Josh Lyman on the popular political drama series The West Wing and more recently his Emmy Award-winning guest roles on Transparent and The Handmaid’s Tale, Whitford has also built an extensive film resumé that includes credits like Get Out, Bicentennial Man, Scent of a Woman, Philadelphia, My Fellow Americans, and The Cabin in the Woods, directed by fellow Wesleyan graduate Joss Whedon ’87, Hon. ’13.

Read Full Whitford Bio

Rev. Dr. William Joseph Barber II

Rev. Dr. William Joseph Barber II is a pastor and social justice advocate building a broad-based grassroots movement to confront systemic racism, poverty, environmental devastation, the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism in America today. As pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina (since 1993), president of the North Carolina conference of the NAACP (2005–2017), and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow, Barber approaches social justice through the lens of the ethical and moral treatment of people as laid out in the Christian Bible, the Reconstruction and civil rights movements of the South, and the United States Constitution.

Read Full Barber Bio

Senior Class Speaker

Caroline Bhupathi is a graduating senior from Dallas, Texas, majoring in computer science and minoring in data analysis. While at Wesleyan, she often served as a course assistant for various economics, computer science, and data analysis courses and tutored and managed the Scientific Computing and Informatics Center (SCIC). She was also the recipient of the Plukas Teaching Apprentice Award in Economics and the Mike Rice Prize in Computer Science. In addition to her academic commitments, Caroline was a member of Wesleyan's only sorority, Rho Epsilon Pi; co-captain of the Wesleyan Club Tennis Team; and a participant in numerous first-year orientation performances, including “In the Company of Others” and “We Speak We Stand.” An active member of Wesleyan's multicultural community, Caroline considers Wesleyan to be a second home.