Please note that photos and videos will be taken throughout Commencement activities. Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences may use your name, likeness, voice, image, language (as a quotation), and other identifying features and information in connection with its use, including display to the public through the internet or other means.
Schedule of Commencement Events
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Dean’s Reception
Student Center at Harvard Griffin GSAS, Lehman Hall, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Thursday, May 29, 2025
6:45 a.m.–7:15 a.m. Degree Candidates Arrive at the Lawns at Richards Hall
33-35 Oxford Street (behind Perkins Hall), Cambridge, Massachusetts
~7:15 a.m. Parade and Academic Procession
Oxford Street into Tercentenary Theatre via the Old Yard
9:30 a.m. Morning Exercises Begin
Tercentenary Theatre
Note: The Morning Exercises typically end between 12:15 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., though this may vary. Regardless of the exact time listed below, graduates and guests assigned to Diploma Awarding Ceremony #1 should proceed to Sanders Theatre from Tercentenary Theatre immediately following the conclusion of the Morning Exercises.
12:30 p.m. (or immediately following Morning Exercises) Diploma Awarding Ceremony #1
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Note: Graduates and guests assigned to Diploma Awarding Ceremony #1 should head to Sanders Theatre directly from Tercentenary Theatre. Graduates and guests assigned to Diploma Awarding Ceremony #2 should head to the Champagne Reception & Luncheon directly from Tercentenary Theatre.
12:30 p.m.–4:00 p.m. Champagne Reception and Luncheon
33-35 Oxford Street (behind Perkins Hall), Cambridge, Massachusetts
Note: The Champagne Reception and Luncheon takes place concurrently with the Diploma Awarding Ceremonies and throughout the afternoon to accommodate graduates and their guests in both ceremonies.
2:30 p.m. Diploma Awarding Ceremony #2
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Note: Harvard Griffin GSAS staff at the Luncheon will prompt graduates and guests assigned to Diploma Awarding Ceremony #2 to report to Sanders Theatre by 2:15 p.m. Graduates and guests leaving Diploma Awarding Ceremony #1 can proceed to the Champagne Reception and Luncheon from Sanders Theatre.
4:30 p.m. PhD Hooding Ceremony for Engineering and Applied Sciences
Science and Engineering Complex, 150 Western Ave., Boston, Massachusetts
5:00 p.m. HMS-affiliated PhD Program Hooding Ceremony
Harvard Medical School, The New Research Building, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115