Michelle Obama Teams Up With MTV for National Virtual Prom

Michelle Obama, speaking to students at NC State University. Other speakers were former governor Jim Hunt and Deborah Ross, on October 4th, 2016 in Raleigh, USA. (Credit: Shutterstock)

Michelle Obama is throwing a virtual prom for the class of 2020.

The former first lady’s non-partisan organization, When We All Vote, and MTV will host the event for students whose proms and graduation ceremonies have been canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

When We All Vote and MTV initially launched a 2020 Prom Challenge to reward high school students for creating effective voter registration programs encouraging young people to register to vote for the November election. A total of 20 students were selected as winners, with their schools to receive grants of up to $5,000 for voter registration efforts and to fund proms.

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With schools across the nation canceling proms, Obama told the winning students on a video call this week that the 2020 Prom Challenge would include a virtual prom night.

“We all want to celebrate you,” Obama said. “So MTV and When We All Vote are coming together to throw you and students across the country a virtual prom.”

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MTV’s Prom-athon is scheduled for May 22 with an on-air takeover of the network featuring prom-themed throwback movies and short-form original content recognizing the winning schools and students. There will also be celebrity appearances and live performances to be announced soon.

Everyone can watch the Prom-athon event on MTV’s YouTube page at 9pm ET.