Editor’s note: This story is part of The Daily Texan’s coverage of how coronavirus concerns are affecting UT-Austin. Read the rest of our coverage here.

The University will hold a virtual commencement in May and has postponed the in-person ceremony until an undetermined date this year, UT President Gregory Fenves announced Wednesday.

These changes come after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended organizers cancel or postpone events with 50 or more people for the eight weeks starting March 15.

The virtual commencement is planned to be May 23 at 6:30 p.m., the same week the ceremony was originally set to take place. Researcher, author and speaker Brené Brown will be the commencement speaker for both the virtual and in-person ceremonies.

“We will postpone the in-person commencement for our colleges and schools and the grand celebration of university commencement to a later time and this year,” Fenves said in a video Wednesday. “We’re looking at what alternatives are and we still want (Brown) to be our 2020 commencement speaker.”

Fenves said Brown’s presence at these events will give UT students some hope and something to look forward to.

“What starts here does change the world, and we can start doing that right now,” Brown said in the video. “Like right now, we can show the world who we are, you know, with open hearts, clean hands, horns up.”