Seniors Invited to Participate in Minecraft Graduation Ceremony

Some students are hitting Minecraft during their "self-quarantines" to recreate their campuses. And at least one group is planning a national graduation ceremony to take place in their virtual world.

Minecraft, introduced by Mojang and acquired by Microsoft in 2014, is an online world that allows players to explore and play in the game or to build their own experiences and realms using digital blocks. According to reporting by the Boston Globe, students at Berklee College of Music, Boston University and Emerson College are using Minecraft to socialize while their physical campuses are closed to them.

Students are building their campuses "block-by-block," using the game's "creative" mode. They're relying on Google Maps street views, satellite images and photographs to "piece together" the exteriors of buildings and using photographs and their own memories to recreate the interiors.

Now there's a national effort afoot to set up a virtual world in Minecraft for both high school and college graduating seniors all over the country. Quaranteen Commencement 2020, hosted by Quaranteen University, is scheduled to take place in Minecraft on May 22.

The project was kicked off by two BU students who "were bored." As they noted on their website, "Being quarantined in a dorm for a week makes you crazy."

According to the organizers, "Once enough people express interest, we'll select graduation times for everyone .... You'll connect to the world, get dressed into robes dyed in your school's color, have your name called, and walk up to receive your diploma in front of everyone." That ceremony will be live-streamed on twitch.tv. Parents and friends will be invited to take seats in the audience.

As of April 2, 2020, the "QU Class of 2020" had 827 graduates signed on to participate from 291 schools.

Participation is free, though people who want to join in on building the commencement area will need to install a free trial or paid version of Minecraft (Java edition).

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Training the Next Generation of Space Cybersecurity Experts

    CT asked Scott Shackelford, Indiana University professor of law and director of the Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance, about the possible emergence of space cybersecurity as a separate field that would support changing practices and foster future space cybersecurity leaders.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Launches Claude for Education

    Anthropic has announced a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

  • AI microchip, a cybersecurity shield with a lock, a dollar coin, and a laptop with financial graphs connected by dotted lines

    Survey: Generative AI Surpasses Cybersecurity in 2025 Tech Budgets

    Global IT leaders are placing bigger bets on generative artificial intelligence than cybersecurity in 2025, according to new research by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

  • university building surrounded by icons for AI, checklists, and data governance

    Improving AI Governance for Stronger University Compliance and Innovation

    AI can generate valuable insights for higher education institutions and it can be used to enhance the teaching process itself. The caveat is that this can only be achieved when universities adopt a strategic and proactive set of data and process management policies for their use of AI.