Wearing masks and sitting six feet apart didn’t stop the Fresno State graduates, their families and friends at Bulldog Stadium from celebrating with cheers, waves, signs, decorated caps — and a few tears.

They also were surprised when keynote speaker Lynda Resnick, in a pre-recorded message, unveiled a new $1 million fund she and her husband, Stewart Resnick, of The Wonderful Company have established to inspire graduates to get involved in local community service.

The “Wonderful Butterfly Project” fund provides up to $500 each for the first 2,000 graduates from the Fresno State classes of 2020 and 2021 who complete two days of service with nonprofit organizations in their own communities. In total, the fund will generate 32,000 hours of volunteer work for Central Valley organizations.

The University’s 109th/110th Commencement was an emotional ceremony for the classes of 2020 and 2021, which in the past 14 months have largely been absent from campus and taking classes virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since there was no in-person ceremony this past year, 2020 graduates were invited to join in this year’s festivities.

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