Tulane University announced that an in-person commencement address to commemorate the graduation of Tulane’s Class of 2020 will be given by NASA astronaut and Tulane alum (B.S.E., ‘88) Colonel Doug G. Hurley. 

Hurley received recent acclaim for commanding the first crewed test flight of the SpaceX Dragon, which is the first time American astronauts have been able to visit the space station since NASA’s space exploration was suspended in 2011. 

One of the many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was the deprivation of a commencement address for college seniors across the United States in 2020, including those at Tulane. Rather than a traditional in-person commencement at the Superdome, members of the Tulane class of 2020 received a digital commencement.  

In a letter released by Tulane on May 7, 2021, the university announced that members of the class of 2020 would be invited back to campus during the Crawfest 2022 weekend, which would provide them “a truly unique graduation ceremony.”