With stay at home orders in place and schools out for the foreseeable future, it's a tough time to be a graduating senior. No, scratch that—it's the worst time to be a graduating senior, and folks everywhere are sympathizing with how it feels to miss the opportunity to walk across the stage in a cap and gown, diploma in hand, celebrating hard-earned success with classmates, teachers, friends and family. "As a mom of a Class of 2020 high school senior, I know these students have put in amazing effort and we should all rally around them to celebrate their achievements," said Leslie Gillin, Chief Marketing Officer at Chase. "There is a bright future ahead, and it will be so much better because of them."
To that end, Chase isn't just sympathizing—they're demonstrating actionable support for seniors by organizing a virtual commencement ceremony, "Show Me Your Walk," and they've enlisted none other than Kevin Hart, Serena Williams and Steph Curry to help. Yep—Hart, Williams and Curry jumped at the opportunity to be 2020 commencement speakers for grads everywhere, and the trio will be imparting wisdom and setting graduates up for financial success during tomorrow's live graduation event.
The event was announced by Thasunda Brown, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, in a heartfelt and optimistic post on Instagram. And in true 2020 fashion, grads are also encouraged to "ShowMeYourWalk" on Tiktok, a hashtag challenge put in place to let seniors in high school, college and even grad school know that Chase recognizes their achievements, that they're being celebrated and that graduating in these trying times is a feat that doesn't go unnoticed. (Psst, here's Hart's post. His dogs even make a cameo—you gotta love it.)
“I really want to give the message that we’re really proud to see what they’re doing,” Williams, 38, told People. “I definitely want to talk about goals and how it takes countless hours to reach a goal. I want to remind them that success is subjective...success is what you make [of] it, mostly. I hope to provide nuggets of wisdom that have kind of worked along my journey."
