At Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, the eleven-time Grammy winner accepted an honorary degree and gave a commencement speech to NYU graduates. The crowd erupted in cheers as Swift entered the platform amid other honorary doctorates, blowing kisses and waving.
“Hello, my name is Taylor,” she introduced herself to the assembly after being awarded an honorary degree. “The last time I danced in heels and a glittery leotard in a stadium this size, it was.” This is a far more comfy clothing.”
She continued to jest about the reasons why NYU probably chose her to be the recipient of the distinction this year. She said, “I’m pretty sure the reason I’m here is because I wrote a song called ’22,'” and expressed her excitement to honor the graduating class.
Swifties flew into a frenzy when the pop musician was announced in March as both a speaker and a degree recipient. Many offered money to NYU students in exchange for a ticket to graduation, according to NBC New York, and haggled them down for tickets to the ceremony.
The university states that each student receives two commencement tickets and that it is against university rules for students to sell or auction off their tickets.
The year Swift gave her commencement speech, she was enrolled in the NYU program. Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone presented the first-ever course on the artist at the university’s Clive Davis Institute.
@nyu commencement ceremony (Taylor’s version): from Yankee Stadium, Spanos tweeted.
A recent headline from the New York Times suggested that Spanos might be “the Hottest Ticket in Town,” but he wasn’t the only person tweeting from the commencement.
One user captioned a tweet, “that moment when you were born a swiftie and your best friend just so happens to graduate from NYU on the same day as Taylor Swift so you get one of her two guest tickets.”
“Congratulations to all the NYU graduates and especially @taylorswift13, I am so proud to be able to support you guys live from yankee stadium and it’s an absolute honour that I get to be here today!” wrote a different user.
Swift expressed her delight for the day before the ceremony began. She uploaded a video to Instagram of herself getting ready.
“It was my first time wearing a cap and gown,” she wrote.
Known as “life hacks,” Swift gave some guidance to the 2022 graduating class during her speech.
At Yankee’s Stadium in New York on Wednesday, Taylor Swift comes to give the New York University 2022 Commencement Address.Getty Images / Dia DipasupilShe counseled the grads to live simply by carrying what they truly need.
“You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning,’ she said.
Next, she suggested that people learn to live with “cringe.”