For the first time in its 104-year history, NYSID held its commencement ceremony virtually, as graduates, isolating because of the coronavirus pandemic, participated from home.

Before the live broadcast of NYSID’s 2020 Commencement Ceremony on June 11, personal videos and messages flashed on the screen from students’ loved-ones, educators, and industry leaders. This is just one detail the NYSID staff built into the ceremony to create an atmosphere of celebration and love. The commencement experience consisted of a live stream of the ceremony interspersed with pre-recorded elements, a Zoom viewing party that enabled graduates to see each other and instructors, and a virtual gallery of student thesis projects. Keynote speakers Ellie Cullman, Tammy Chou, and Tony Chi shared wisdom, and the theme of the day became innovation in the face of adversity. At the time, the physical campuses had been closed for 84 days.

President David Sprouls addressed the graduates with the words, “The last few months have posed unbelievable challenges, and you overcame them with flying colors.” Ellen Kravet, the chairman of NYSID’s Board of Trustees, added, “If there was ever a time that the design industry needed you, it’s now. . . .We will look to you to lead the way.”

President Sprouls conferred honorary doctorates upon Ellie Cullman, co-founder and president of Cullman & Kravis Associates, and Tammy Chou and Tony Chi, co-founders of tonychi studio. Predicting the way interior designers would have to respond to the pandemic, Ms. Cullman said, “I, like many others before me, have said that form and function are the twin pillars of interior design. . . .I would like to add one more component, flexibility, our new mantra. . . .The standards for today’s new designs have not been written yet. Perhaps you will write them.” Tammy Chou, who was a businesswoman and restauranteur before she and her partner, Tony Chi, founded their firm in 1984, advised graduates to, “Learn the business, learn the industry, and find out the importance of having a design community.” Tony Chi said, “Design is not packaging. It’s a way to elevate ourselves, to elevate humanity.” Six amazing student speakers shared their stories of resilience: BFA candidates Monica Seroiczkowski, Atique Rahman, and Bailey McGrath; and MFA candidates Mona Nahm, Gabrielle Hollander, and Tiffany Zhou.