Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will give a commencement address at Texas Tech’s virtual graduation ceremony on May 23.

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“Patrick’s story and his rise to stardom, both here at Texas Tech and in the NFL, have been a great source of pride for Red Raiders and an inspiration for thousands,” Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said, according to ESPN.

Mahomes played quarterback at Texas Tech from 2014 through 2016. He then entered the NFL draft in 2017, being selected in the first round by the Chiefs. Mahomes won the NFL Most Valuable Player award in 2018 and won the Super Bowl in 2019.

“During that rise, Patrick has never wavered from the lessons learned from his family, coaches and his time as a student-athlete at Texas Tech, displaying class, humility and a competitive fire to be the best,” Schovanec continued. “We are very pleased and grateful that he will address our May 2020 graduates who have persevered in spite of unique challenges to earn their degrees.”

The event, which would regularly be held at the school’s basketball court, was moved online because of the coronavirus outbreak. Mahomes’ speech will be live-streamed for fans to watch.

In April, the Chiefs picked up the fifth-year option on Mahomes’ contract.

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Oprah Winfrey, Cardi B, DJ Khaled, and so many more celebrities came together to celebrate the Class of 2020 in a virtual graduation ceremony on Friday (May 15th). The virtual event, titled #Graduation2020, was held in honour of all the graduates who were unable to have a proper commencement as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Hosted by Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak in collaboration with Facebook and Instagram, #Graduation2020 featured a myriad of stars offering inspiring words to all the graduates, including the expert herself, Oprah, giving the official commencement speech.

“Hello everyone,” Oprah began. “I know you may not feel like it, but you are, indeed, the chosen class for such a time as this, the Class of 2020. You’re also a united class, the pandemic class, that has the entire world striving to graduate with you. Of course, this is not the graduating ceremony you envisioned. You’ve been dreaming about that walk across the stage with your family and friends cheering you on, the caps flung joyously in the air. But even though there may not be pomp because of our circumstances, never has a graduating class been called to step into the future with more purpose, vision, passion, energy, and hope. Your graduation ceremony is taking place with so many luminaries celebrating you on the world’s Facebook stage, and I’m just honoured to join them and salute you.”

“I just want to say congrats to all my high school and to all my college graduates,” Cardi said in her own speech. “Congrats congrats congrats! And don’t let no coronavirus, no nothing, take this special moment from you…It’s more than a diploma, it’s more than graduation, it’s knowledge, it’s knowing that…you went through those hard nights, studying….Now you’re about to start your life, you’re about to make some money, you’re about to show your skills on what you worked for!”

Watch the full virtual ceremony below:

Pharrell Williams dropped by webcam to the virtual graduation ceremony for Norfolk State University, an HBCU in his hometown of Virginia, to give a surprise commencement speech to all the graduates. On Saturday, (May 10th), NSU unfortunately had no choice but to conduct their ceremony virtually as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but one VA native did what he could to raise the graduates’ spirits by offering them some inspiring words in these troubling times.

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“Even if this is not the norm, you guys and girls still deserve all the praise,” Pharrell said in his speech. “You stuck it through, you made it and today’s your day.” He also explained his close connection to the university, despite never having attended. He revealed that the the NSU marching band, known as the Spartan Legion, actually inspired him to learn how to play instruments and make music when he was younger. He even invited the Spartan Legion to play at his Something In the Water festival this year, before it was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. “That would’ve been like closing my eyes and really actually seeing my childhood dreams come full circle,” he said about the band performing at his festival.

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The surprise definitely helped brighten everyone’s day, as one graduate by the name of Patsy Douglas told CNN, “His message inspired me to keep going and striving for the highest regardless of the circumstances. His words and affirmation to the class of 2020 will be forever carried in all of our hearts.” Watch Pharrell’s full NSU commencement speech below:

Actor Ryan Reynolds is gifting graduating students from his Alma Mater, Kitsilano Secondary School, a free large pizza from his favorite local restaurant.

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Reynolds mentioned the gift during his commencement speech for the school’s virtual graduation.

“To this day I’m still friends with so many people I graduated with. So that says something. I’m probably not going to drop any mics here … but I can pass on this little chestnut of wisdom,” he said.”Some of you may consider me successful. I don’t know, some of you may have seen Green Lantern,” he quipped, before adding, “but I’ll tell you this — empathy has gotten me so much farther in not only in my life but in my career.” Reynolds assured that having empathy is “just about the most radical act of ambition that you can ever demonstrate.”

“To my surprise, [empathy] has made me money, friends, priceless memories. It’s allowed me to fully accept and provide love. It’s helped me recognize the mistakes I’ve made and learn from them. And above all, it made me happy. And it’s something I’ll probably be working on my whole life,” he added.

By the end of the video, he shouts out Nat’s Pizzeria and says, “every grad gets one large pizza on me.”

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Beloved Actor Tom Hanks surprised students at Wright State University by giving a Commencement Speech at the school's virtual graduation.

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"You are the chosen ones because of a fate unimagined when you began your Wright State adventures,” the Hollywood legend said. “You started in the olden times, in a world back before the Great Pandemic of 2020. You will talk of those earlier years in your lives in just that way."

"Part of your lives will forever be identified as 'before,' in the same way other generations tell time like 'that was before the war, or 'that was before the internet,' or 'that was before Beyoncé.' The word 'before' is going to carry great weight with you," he added.

"You’ve gone from student to graduate with more that is expected of you than to just be an American. You’ve had to be responsible Americans. You’ve had to be good Americans. Good Americans that have made sacrifices that have saved lives.

"You will be enlightened in ways your degree never held in promise," Hanks said. "You will have made it through a time of great sacrifice and great need. No one will be more fresh to the task of restarting our normalcy than you — our chosen ones."

Hanks, 63, tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year.