Coronavirus California

Blockeley University hosts virtual commencement on Minecraft for UC Berkeley students

ByVictoria Vallecorse KGO logo

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Virtual commencement on Minecraft for UC Berkeley

The digital Minecraft campus, Blockeley University, will host a 2-day celebration for graduating UC Berkeley seniors.

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- The digital replica of the UC Berkeley campus on Minecraft, called Blockeley University, hosted a virtual commencement for the Cal Class of 2020 on Saturday.

The UCB graduation ceremony was held at Blockeley University's Memorial Stadium. Commencement speakers included UC Berkeley's Chancellor Carol Christ, Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher, Mojang's Chief Storyteller Lydia Winters, CEO of Razer Min-Liang Tan, and Twitch co-founder Justin Kan.

College seniors in attendance were given digitized caps and gowns, with the opportunity to throw up their caps at the end of the ceremony to mimic a traditional graduation experience.

LIFE AFTER COVID-19: Here's what restaurants, gyms, schools, sports will look like when they reopen

After commencement, Cal students can continue celebrating at a 2-day musical event filled with performances from Cash Cash, Sam Feldt, Vini Vici and more. The party begins at 4 p.m. on May 16 and 11 a.m. on May 17. The festival will also include a charity fundraiser to raise money for COVID-19 relief.

The digital Minecraft campus, Blockeley University, will host a 2-day celebration for graduating seniors.

In a recent interview, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ expressed her thoughts on the digital event.

"It's a really challenging time and to just see how they engaged with creating this virtual reality of the campus and staging of graduation is really inspiring to me, and I think inspiring to many people," she said.

"I feel like this whole situation is a pretty cliche Berkeley experience where there's a big problem, then we kind of just come in and say, here's a creative solution," said project creator Bjorn Lustic.

While the in-person graduation for Cal students will be postponed to later this year or 2021, this weekend's celebration will provide graduating seniors with a sense of recognition for their accomplishments during the past four years.

For more information on how to attend or stream the virtual commencement, click here.

If you have a question or comment about the coronavirus pandemic, submit yours via the form below or here.

Get the latest news, information and videos about the novel coronavirus pandemic here

RELATED STORIES & VIDEOS: