Dan Li is working with computer engineering students to create a website that would translate commencement ceremonies at USC.

Story by: Holden Slattery

USC sophomore Dan Li was working as a teleprompter machine operator in his elective class at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism this semester. He was behind the scenes, doing his part to make sure his classmates were able to read the news with ease.

Li does not mind being on camera or under the spotlight. He often performs stand-up comedy at the Ground Zero Performance Café. But he realized that operating the teleprompter was an essential role, too. Li’s thinking drifted from the studio recording to a much larger event: USC Commencement.

“I started thinking: wouldn’t it be nice to have a translation or caption for my parents to read off of during graduation?” Li said.

When Li finished high school at Oaks Christian School in Malibu, California, his parents flew in from China to see his graduation ceremony. They watched with great pride as Dan received his diploma. But they didn’t understand any of the speeches that were given.

“Probably the only thing they understood was my name,” Li said.

In March, Li was elected as a Residential Senator on Undergraduate Student Government (USG). One of his campaign platforms was better integrating international students into USC life and improving their experiences.

Remembering his own graduation, Li thought about the international students at USC whose parents will travel across the globe to attend graduation without comprehending much of the ceremony. So he is now developing an idea to implement translation services into Commencement.

He has partnered with computer engineering students to create a commencement translation website that uses Google Translate to create captions for speeches in as many languages as possible. The idea is for someone to transcribe the speeches during the ceremony, so that attendees can access translations on their tablets or phones. They plan to test it out at graduation ceremonies this year and seek approval to implement and promote this practice at USC next year, Li said.

In 2013, Manako Yabe, a USC student from Japan, also identified a deficit in USC’s commencement ceremony and worked hard to eliminate it. Yabe, who was born deaf, wanted USC to provide captioned Jumbotrons during the ceremony so that everyone could enjoy the speeches and remarks. USC implemented Yabe’s idea, and it is now standard practice during Commencement. Li is inspired by her efforts, and he hopes to make a similar impact.

Li will graduate in 2017, and he hopes that his parents will be able to understand more of the ceremony than they did at his high school.

“I hope that’s something they won’t have to experience again in two years when I graduate from USC,” Li said.

Holden Slattery, Assistant Communications Editor, is pursuing a Master of Public Administration and is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.