Taylor Swift to Receive Honorary NYU Doctorate, Will Give Commencement Speech at Yankee Stadium

Taylor Swift is about to become a doctor.

New York Universityannounced on Monday that the 11-time Grammy winner will receive an honorary degree from the school, in the form of a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa. Swift will be in attendance at the school’s morning commencement on May 18 at Yankee Stadium, where the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022—the pandemic graduates—will be toasted for their accomplishments. Not only that, but Swift will be speaking to the graduating classes.

“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 shared in a release. “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.”

This isn’t Swift’s first NYU tie, either. Earlier this semester, the school’s Clive Davis Institute launched a course on the singer, taught by Rolling Stone journalist Brittany Spanos. The course aims to :deconstruct both the appeal and aversions to Taylor Swift through close readings of her music and public discourse as it relates to her own growth as an artist and a celebrity,” per an official description.

“I’ve been covering Taylor Swift since I began my writing career a decade ago and have been a super fan of hers for even longer,” Spanos explained to Variety. “It’s such an honor to be able to share my Swiftie expertise with a sharp group of students.”