The Baccalaureate incorporates the many spiritual and cultural traditions of the Brown community. This multifaith service for undergraduates opens with a traditional Chinese lion dance performance, bearing blessing and congratulations to the graduates as they perform with dynamic energy to dispel misfortune and invite good fortune. The service continues with rituals, readings and prayers from Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and animist traditions, as well as choral and instrumental music, poetry, dance and Taiko drumming.

Baccalaureate is a service designed to bring graduating seniors together as a community. While families are invited to watch the program via livestream, the in-person event is meant for graduating students only, and, because of limited capacity, only students, performers and University leaders participating in the service are invited to the church grounds for the service.

One of the highlights of the Baccalaureate Service is the keynote address. The 2027 Baccalaureate speaker will be announced this spring.

Recent speakers have included, among others:

• Dr. Seth Berkley, physician and public health leader
• Robert Corrigan, former San Francisco State University president
• Daveed Diggs, performer, rapper and writer
• Allyson Felix, Olympic gold medalist
• Xochitl Gonzalez, bestselling author, screenwriter and producer
• Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian
• Steven R. Jordan, NFL player and business leader
• John Krasinski, actor
• Carlos Lejnieks, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Jessica Meir, NASA astronaut and marine biologist
• Nalini Moreshwar Nadkarni, forest ecologist and science advocate
• Beverly Wade Hogan, Tougaloo College president