Commencement Week includes addresses by Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust and Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ’06. For details and updates on event speakers, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/commencement.
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Tuesday, May 23
Phi Beta Kappa Exercises, at 11, with poet and memoirist Mark Doty and orator Sherry Turkle ’69, Ph.D. ’76, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé professor of the social studies of science and technology at MIT, and founder/director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. Sanders Theatre.
Baccalaureate Service for the Class of 2017, at 2, Memorial Church, followed by class photo, Widener steps.
Class of 2017 Family Reception, at 5. Tickets required. Science Center plaza.
Harvard Extension School Annual Commencement Banquet, at 6. Tickets required. Annenberg Hall.
Wednesday, May 24
ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, at 11, with President Faust and a guest speaker, General John Hyten ’81, U.S. Air Force. Tercentenary Theatre.
Senior Class Day Picnic, at noon.Tickets required. The Old Yard.
Senior Class Day Exercises, at 2, with guest speaker Joseph R. Biden, the forty-seventh vice president of the United States, the Harvard and Ivy Orations, and remarks by incoming Harvard Alumni Association president Susan Morris Novick ’85. Tickets required. Tercentenary Theatre.
Harvard Kennedy School Commencement Address, at 2, by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. JFK Memorial Park.
Law School Class Day, 2:30, with featured speaker Sally Yates, former U.S. deputy attorney general for the Obama administration and former acting attorney general for the Trump administration. Holmes Field.
Business School Class Day Ceremony, 2:30, with David G. Bradley, M.B.A. ’77, owner of Atlantic Media, publisher of The Atlantic. Baker Lawn.
Graduate School of Design Class Day, at 4, with guest speaker Katherine Farley, M. Arch. ’76, chair of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall.
Divinity School Multireligious Commencement Service for the Class of 2017, at 4. Memorial Church.
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dudley House Faculty Dean’s Reception, 4-6.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Award Presentation and Celebration, 4-7. Kresge Courtyard.
Faculty Deans’ Receptions for seniors and guests, at 5. The Undergraduate Houses.
Harvard University Band, Harvard Glee Club, and Radcliffe Choral Society Concert, at 8. Tercentenary Theatre.
Thursday, May 25
Commencement Day. Gates open at 6:45.
Academic Procession, 8:50. The Old Yard.
The 366th Commencement Exercises, 9:45 (concluding at 11:45). Tickets required. Tercentenary Theatre.
All Alumni Spread, 11:30. Tickets required. The Old Yard.
The Tree Spread, for the College classes through 1966, 11:30. Tickets required. Holden Quadrangle.
Graduate Schools Diploma Ceremonies, from 11:30 (time varies by school).
GSAS Luncheon and Reception, 12 to 3. Tickets required. Behind Perkins Hall.
College Diploma Presentation Ceremonies and Luncheons, at noon. The Undergraduate Houses.
Alumni Procession, 1:45. The Old Yard.
The Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA): The Commencement Afternoon Program, 2:30, includes remarks by HAA president Martin J. Grasso Jr. ’78, President Faust, and Commencement speaker Mark Zuckerberg; Overseer and HAA director election results; and Harvard Medal presentations. Tercentenary Theatre.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Diploma Ceremony at 2, with Gina McCarthy, former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Kresge Courtyard.
Medical and Dental Schools Class Day Ceremony. Ticketed luncheon at noon, followed by a speech, at 2, by the new HMS dean, George Q. Daley ’82, M.D. ’91.
Friday, May 26
Radcliffe Day this year focuses on the role of journalists and the news. The morning panel discussion, “(Un)Truths and Their Consequences,” is followed by a luncheon honoring the 2017 Radcliffe Medal recipients: PBS NewsHour broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff and her late colleague, Gwen Ifill. (Former NPR radio host Michele Norris will accept the award on Ifill’s behalf.)
The luncheon, 12:30-2, includes comments by New York Times columnist David Brooks and a conversation between Woodruff and Aspen Institute president and CEO Walter Isaacson ’74. Tickets are required. For details, visit www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/radcliffe-day-2017.
For updates on Commencement week and related activities, visit alumni.harvard.edu/annualmeeting or commencement.harvard.edu.
