UCLA gave Navy veteran John Fong the opportunity to join the 2025 graduating class in the History Department Commencement, nearly 60 years after he was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.

The now-viral video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) by user @FearedBuck, captures the student proudly opening his laptop during the graduation ceremony and displaying an open ChatGPT window.

A recent UCLA graduate showed ChatGPT on the jumbotron at his graduation ceremony, and it has sparked a viral debate about AI usage in school. Meanwhile, he's posting about it on LinkedIn.

A UCLA student went viral for showing his use of ChatGPT to complete his final project while at his graduation ceremony. The student faces criticism for the video as many are concerned about the ...

By Gordon Tokumatsu and Missael Soto •Published June 18, 2025•Updated on June 18, 2025 at 9:24 pm BOOKMARKER NBC Universal, Inc.

Surprisingly, while this has led students to get better at hiding AI use, one student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), bragged about using it during his graduation ceremony.

Another distinctive element of the UCLA graduation attire is the satin blue stole. While not mandatory for the ceremony, many students opt to wear one.

Ayala said they are uncertain whether these identity-based graduation ceremonies will be canceled this year. “I do think there is this idea that it could happen to UCLA as well,” they said.

Veteran joins UCLA graduation decades after missing his own due to Vietnam War draft With the class of 2025, the UCLA graduate finally got to walk across the stage, a moment 57 years in the making.