Announcing a New University-Wide Commencement Ceremony

Dear Members of the Georgetown Community,

With excitement, I write to share that Georgetown will be establishing a new university-wide commencement ceremony for all graduating students and their families as part of our annual May festivities in Washington, DC. This special new ceremony will complement (and not replace) the existing ceremonies held by each of our schools. Those celebrations will continue on largely as they have in the past. I met on Friday with student leaders from across our campuses to share this news with them and hear their feedback.

We are delighted that, for our first year, the new University Commencement Ceremony will take place at Nationals Park on Thursday, May 20, at 10 a.m. Information on how to attend will be announced in future communications.

The University Commencement Ceremony will bring together all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students graduating this May in Washington, DC. It will take the place of the undergraduate Senior Convocation and will elevate Senior Convocation’s most meaningful elements in a commencement ceremony shared by the full graduating class. Having a unified commencement ceremony allows us to create new traditions shared across our University community, and provides an opportunity for the conferral of degrees by the president and for a featured speaker to address all graduates.

We will also maintain the special role that our school ceremonies play in celebrating individual student achievement. At each school ceremony, graduate names will be read while each graduating student crosses the stage.

The schedule for each school’s ceremony will be posted to the Commencement website by November 1, with additional updates coming throughout the year, as we incorporate this special new ceremony into the regular schedule of graduation activities.

Some of the most memorable moments of celebration can occur when an entire university community comes together to mark the commencement of its students. I look forward to sharing these special moments with the graduates and families of the Class of 2027 and beyond.

Respectfully,

Eduardo M. Peñalver
President