Some ordered their favorite meal, or strung up orange and blue balloons and streamers before Saturday’s virtual celebration and degree conferral.

Others gathered their families around screens of all sizes to watch, or watched with friends on videoconference. They donned their graduation caps and gowns, heading out into the backyard – sometimes hugging beloved pets – for photos that they would normally take on the Lawn. 

However they celebrated, University of Virginia 2020 graduates around the country and the world found a way to mark their original graduation day, and to watch the virtual celebration and degree conferral ceremony that the University put together in honor of the occasion.

The virtual celebration was not intended to replace Final Exercises – which will be held in-person at a later date – but was one way to mark graduates’ achievements and bring the academic year to a close.

Take a look at some of the virtual celebrations and congratulations that spread through social media, tagged with #UVAGrad.