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Four ceremonies across two days showcased countless examples of student success and perseverance

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth held four Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2025 on May 15 and May 16. Crowds gathered at Cressy Football Field and the Auditorium to cheer on their graduates as they crossed the stage. ½ûÂþÌìÌà expects to confer 1,900 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and law degrees. Of those 1,900 students, the Class of 2025 represented 248 cities and towns in Massachusetts, 33 states, and 29 countries. 

Speaking to the graduates, Chancellor Mark A. Fuller said, "What defines a university community is you, our students. Our students are not ordinary, you are extraordinary. You drive our progress, and you set the tone for our campus culture. You show us the path forward in delivering the highest quality, most rewarding educational experience."

The first ceremony featured undergraduate and graduate students from the School for Marine Science & Technology, College of Engineering, and Charlton College of Business, including student Commencement Speaker Bee Greenberg.

"I stand before you today to remind you that our own imperfections are what have brought us to this very moment. We did not get this degree despite our imperfections. We earned this degree because of our imperfections. We earned this degree because we continued to better ourselves despite knowing that perfection would remain out of reach," said Greenberg, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science.

Learn more about the 2025 Student Commencement Speakers.

During the two days of ceremonies, students and guests heard from members of ½ûÂþÌìÌà Board of Trustees. "We know about the life-changing education that ½ûÂþÌìÌà offers, and we know that higher education's role in advancing social mobility is essential to building opportunities and bright futures for young people and the well-being of our region," said UMass Board of Trustees Chairman Steve Karam. Students also heard from trustees Mary Burns and Ann Maguire Keches.

Thursday afternoon's festivities featured the doctoral student ceremony. Student speaker Gaspard Baye, who received a PhD in Engineering & Applied Science, told his fellow graduates, "Whether you came from across the street or across the world — we made it. We fought through personal storms, long nights, and Zoom fatigue. And now, we stand taller and wiser."

The Doctoral Ceremony also awarded honorary degrees—the highest award that the University can bestow—to Dr. Michael Curry, Peter Pereira '92, and Captain Scott Tingle '87. The individuals were selected because of their extraordinary impact on their professions, civic and cultural life, and higher education. 

Learn more about the 2025 Honorary Degree Recipients.

The Friday morning ceremony featured undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Visual & Performing Arts, the College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and the College of Arts & Sciences. Student speaker Naomi Mwangi, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology, told her fellow graduates, "My advice and parting words to you all, the graduating class of 2025: Be brave. Always take the leap. It doesn't ever stop being scary, but you got this. Believe in yourself as I believe in you."

At the School of Law Ceremony on Friday afternoon, the crowd of future lawyers and their families and friends heard from student speaker Jack Lovely, who urged his peers, "Our graduation is not the start of a blank page, and it is not a new beginning. It is the renewal of the energy that we have already poured into this journey. The frustrations, the late nights, and the sacrifices. It is the next chapter in a story that we have already begun to write, and I am grateful that we get to write it together."

Law faculty member and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Serge Georges Jr. also spoke to the graduates, stating, "Be the kind of lawyer who understands the best victories are not always the loudest, they're the most meaningful. How you practice law will say more about you than any diploma could."

Learn more about the School of Law's 2025 Commencement Ceremony.

To learn more about the incredible accomplishments of the graduating class, visit the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Commencement Spotlights.