In Review: Commencement 2022

STADIUM CELEBRATION: For the first time since the mid-1990s, the University will celebrate all graduating students in an all-unit commencement ceremony this spring.(Photo: University Communications)

Rochester will celebrate all graduating students this spring with the return of a University-wide, in-person ceremony on Friday, May 13, in Fauver Stadium at the Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex on the River Campus.

The University Commencement ceremony—which will mark the conferral of academic degrees for both undergraduates and graduate students—will kick off a weekend of celebratory events for graduates, their families and friends, faculty, and staff.

The University-wide event, last held in the mid-1990s, is a return to Rochester’s traditional, all-University commencement exercise which President Sarah Mangelsdorf has been interested in reviving since she became Rochester’s president in 2019.

For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the possibility of holding such a large in-person gathering. While pandemic health and safety protocols will continue to play a factor in planning for commencement, University health and safety experts anticipate that the situation will have changed enough to allow for a large outdoor event.

“We’re excited by the prospect of celebrating the end of the academic year in person again,” says Mangelsdorf. “Commencement is a milestone for students and their families, and it deserves to be recognized with all the pomp and circumstance—and, frankly, the joy—that we love about the completion of an academic journey.

“We’re also delighted to celebrate as one University, bringing together students and representatives of the faculty and staff from all of Rochester’s academic units, along with special guests to share our connections and our strength as a University community.

“After two long years of working diligently despite the pandemic, we look forward to the opportunity to gather again as the University of Rochester and to celebrate our extraordinary community.”

The University Commencement is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Friday, May 13, in Fauver, which will be set up with additional bleachers and other seating to accommodate about 14,000 people. Each graduate will be provided with a limited number of tickets to the ceremony to share with family and friends.

The program will include processions of students—identified by pennants to designate each group by school—faculty representatives and a platform party of guests and dignitaries.

Speakers will include Mangelsdorf, representatives of the University’s Board of Trustees and the alumni community, and representatives from both undergraduate and graduate students. The event will also be streamed live for those who cannot attend.

While Mangelsdorf will confer degrees during the ceremony, graduates will be personally recognized at individual diploma ceremonies conducted by their respective schools and departments.

Ceremonies for academic units will begin on Saturday, May 14, and run through Sunday, May 15.

Over the course of the spring semester, the commencement planning team organized by the Office of the Secretary is working closely with the Coronavirus University Restart Team to follow campus, county, and state health protocols to ensure a safe and successful ceremony.

“The health and safety of the members of our community is at the top of our planning priorities,” says Jack Bailey, secretary to the Board of Trustees. “But we are hoping to reestablish a University tradition with the kind of ceremony that Rochester has not held in many years—one that builds on our sense of community and institutional spirit.”