Commencement | April 5, 2024

The 373rd Harvard College Commencement Exercises and Alumni Events

The 373rd Harvard College Commencement Exercises and all activities.

From The May-June 2024 Issue

group of Harvard graduates in cap and gown celebrate — Photograph by rYAN DOAN-NGUYEn

Commencement week includes addresses by interim president Alan M. Garber and journalist and leading free-press advocate Maria Ressa, co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. See harvardmagazine.com/commencement for updates. For general information, visit commencement.harvard.edu and for new details on Commencement event Yard entry procedures, please go to: https://alumni.harvard.edu/college/seniors/commencement

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Tuesday, May 21

College Phi Beta Kappa Exercises, at 11:00, with orator Harvard president emerita and Porter University Research Professor Drew Gilpin Faust and guest poet Tracy K. Smith, professor of English and of African and African American studies, 22^nd Poet Laureate of the United States, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Life on Mars, Sanders Theatre

Baccalaureate Service for the Class of 2024, at 2:00, followed by class photo, Tercentenary Theatre

College Class of 2024 Family Reception, at 5:00, Science Center Plaza

Harvard University Band and Choruses Concert, at 8:00, Science Center Plaza

Wednesday, May 22

ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, 11:00-12:30, with interim President Alan M. Garber and a guest speaker, Sanders Theatre in Memorial Hall

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Awards Convocation, at 11:00, with Melissa Hoffer, Climate Chief, state of Massachusetts, Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, Boston

Harvard Medical School Master’s Ceremony, at 1:00, with keynote speaker Elizabeth G. Nabel, advisory board chair, OPKO Health, former president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor of medicine, emerita, HMS Quad

College Class Day Exercises, at 2:00, Harvard and Ivy Orations, and remarks by incoming Harvard Alumni Association president Moitri Chowdhury Savard ’93, Tercentenary Theatre

Harvard Kennedy School Graduation Address, with guest speaker R. Nicholas Burns, United States ambassador to China and former Kennedy School Goodman Family professor of the practice of diplomacy and international relations, JFK Memorial Park

Law School Class Day Ceremony, 2:30-4:00, with speaker U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Holmes Field

Business School Class Day Ceremony, 2:30, with speaker Desiree Rogers, M.B.A. ’85, co-owner and CEO, Black Opal LLC, Baker Lawn

Graduate School of Education Convocation, 3:30, speaker psychologist and Hobbs research professor of cognition and education Howard Gardner, Radcliffe Yard

Graduate School of Design Class Day, 3:30, with speaker Karenna Gore ’95, director of the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, Gund Hall backyard tent

Divinity School Multireligious Commencement Service for the Class of 2024, 3:30, HDS campus green

Dudley Community Reception, at 4:00, 53 Dunster Street

Faculty Deans’ Receptions, at 5:00, undergraduate Houses

Senior Letterwinners’ Dinner, at 5:00, Bright-Landry Hockey Center

Harvard University's 373rd Commencement Exercises

Thursday, May 23, 2024
commencement.harvard.edu

Since 1642, when just nine students graduated, Harvard’s Commencement Exercises have brought together the community unlike any other tradition still observed in the University. Degree candidates, with those who supported them, are anticipated to participate in Harvard’s 373rd commencement exercises this spring. Given the increasing number of people planning to attend, we ask that interested readers carefully review the guidelines governing ticketing, regalia, security precautions, and other details at https://commencement.harvard.edu/.

Commencement Day Overview

The Commencement Exercises begin when the academic procession is seated in Tercentenary Theatre and the sheriff calls the “meeting to order.” Three student orators deliver addresses, and the dean of each School introduces the candidates by groups for their respective degrees, which the president then confers. Toward the conclusion of the ceremony, the graduating seniors are asked to rise, and their degrees are conferred on them as a group by the president. Honorary degrees are then conferred before the Commencement speaker delivers an address. The exercises are then adjourned.

Diploma-granting Ceremonies and Luncheons: Graduates and their guests return to their respective undergraduate Houses or graduate and professional Schools.

Harvard Alumni Day

Friday, May 31, 2024
alumni.harvard.edu/alumni-day

The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) invites the University community to Harvard Alumni Day on Friday, May 31. This global celebration will honor alumni impact, citizenship, and community. It begins with the all-alumni parade led by the Chief Marshal of Alumni and the eldest alumni in attendance. Together with their schools and classes, alumni will process into Tercentenary Theatre for a celebratory alumni-led program, which will feature a keynote speaker, recognition of the Harvard Medalists, musical performances, and more. A Yard party with food, beverages, and games, plus other programming will follow. Alumni not in attendance are invited to join via livestream or through local watch parties. For more information, including registration details, visit alumni.harvard.edu/alumni-day.

Please note: University health and safety guidance and policies may change based on current conditions and federal, state, and local requirements.

—Harvard Commencement Office and Harvard Alumni Association

Thursday, May 23

Commencement Day, Harvard Yard gates open at 6:45

Academic Processions, begin at 7:45, Harvard Yard, various locations

The 373rd Commencement Exercises, 9:30-12:15, with guest speaker Maria Ressa, Tercentenary Theatre Luncheons and diploma-awarding ceremonies, at 12:30, undergraduate Houses, and the graduate and professional schools (various locations)

Harvard Extension School Class of 2024 Commencement Ceremony and Reception, at 2:00, Harvard Museum of Natural History courtyard

Harvard Medical and Dental Schools Class Day Ceremony, Luncheon at noon, followed by ceremony and keynote address by a guest speaker, HMS Quad

Friday, May 24

Radcliffe Day, panel discussion, “The Long Arc of Equality and Justice in America,” at 10:00. Moderator Melissa Murray, Stokes professor of law at New York University, a legal analyst for MSNBC, leads panelists: Mary Bonauto, senior director of civil rights and legal strategies at GLAD, and member of the Maine Justice for Children Task Force; Jerome Foster II, curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, and founder and executive director of Waic Up; and Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and adjunct professor at Harvard Law School. The discussion is followed by a testimonial from actress, singer, and dancer Rita Moreno and keynote conversation between Radcliffe Medal honoree Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, and the 300^th Anniversary University Professor and former Harvard Law School dean Martha L. Minow. Registration required, Radcliffe Yard

Friday, May 31

Harvard Alumni Day, a University-wide event honoring alumni impact, citizenship, and community across the globe, including remarks by a guest speaker and by interim president Alan M. Garber. Recognition of the Harvard Medalists, along with the traditional all-alumni parade, musical performances, and a Harvard Yard party with food and drinks, Tercentenary Theatre

Published in the May-June 2024 print issue under the headline “Commencement and Alumni Events,” in the Harvard Squared section.