Saturday, May 29, 2027 Location:College Green

The Master’s Ceremony is hosted by the School of Professional Studies and the Division of Master’s and Professional Programs, with the dean of the School of Professional Studies presiding. The Master’s Ceremony serves as the formal conferral of master’s and professional degrees. Master’s students process to the College Green for the ceremony, which includes an invocation, a student address, the presentation of master’s awards and the reading of candidates’ names. A member of the Corporation of Brown University officially confers the degrees. The event concludes with a benediction and the singing of the Alma Mater. Master’s and professional students are also encouraged to join the University Procession on Sunday.

Speaker

Selected by the Graduate Student Council, master’s and doctoral student speakers share narratives that reflect the experiences, training and sense of purpose inherent in the pursuit of advanced study. Speakers are announced in the spring.

Candidates self-nominate and are asked to submit an excerpt of their proposed speeches. Nominees are strongly encouraged to solicit feedback from faculty, Writing Center staff and others before submitting their applications. The Graduate Student Council's nominations committee reviews all submissions. The nominations committee selects two finalists for both the Master’s and Doctoral ceremonies. Finalists are asked to deliver a similar excerpt of their speeches before the Graduate Student Council general body during the April meeting. All voting members of the Graduate Student Council then select the final candidate who will serve as the master’s and doctoral Commencement speakers. 

Questions should be directed to gsc_nominations@brown.edu.

Sunday, May 30, 2027 Location: First Unitarian Church

Presided over by the dean of medicine and biological sciences, the Warren Alpert Medical School Ceremony is held at First Unitarian Church, 1 Benevolent St., Providence, and includes faculty and class addresses and the conferral of Brown medical degrees. The ceremony begins directly following the University Procession. 

Guests watch a livestream of the Procession from their seats at the church. Each graduating student participating in the Medical School Ceremony receives four tickets, which are distributed on Saturday during the mandatory rehearsal.

Speaker

Speakers at the Medical School Ceremony include a faculty member and member of the graduating class selected by their peers, who reflects on the class's journey into medicine and how their Brown medical education will shape their practice as physicians. The Medical School Ceremony speaker is announced in the spring.

Graduating medical students self-nominate for class speaker. They submit a one- to two-page outline of their speech, including title, which is shared with all members of the graduating class. Students then vote for the speaker they wish to address their class.

Sunday, May 30, 2027 Location:Pembroke Field

Presided over by the dean of the Graduate School, the Doctoral Ceremony is held at Pembroke Field and serves as the formal conferral of Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The ceremony includes a student address, the presentation of the Horace Mann Medal and Joukowsky Family Foundation awards, and the reading of candidates’ names. Deans perform the ceremonial hooding of graduates before a member of the Corporation officially confers the degrees. The event concludes with a benediction and the singing of the Alma Mater. 

Graduating doctoral students are invited to participate in the Procession before the ceremony; guests may watch the Procession from their seats on Pembroke Field.

Speaker

Selected by the Graduate Student Council, master’s and doctoral student speakers share narratives that reflect the experiences, training and sense of purpose inherent in the pursuit of advanced study. Speakers are announced in the spring. See the Master’s Ceremony section for details about how speakers are selected.

Sunday, May 30, 2027 Location:The First Baptist Church in America

The senior class assembles on the lawn of the First Baptist Church in America for the official conferral of undergraduate degrees at the College Ceremony and brief remarks from the University president. After the ceremony ends, the seniors walk up the hill and take seats on the College Green for the University Ceremony. 

Due to limited capacity, only seniors are allowed on the church grounds. Family and friends should remain on College Green during the College Ceremony, where large screens offer a continuous view of the proceedings.

Sunday, May 30, 2027 Location:College Green

The University president presides over this main event, where all graduates convene for the symbolic conferring of degrees. This ceremony begins with the senior orations followed by the conferring of honorary degrees. The president then bestows symbolic degrees on representatives of each category of degree. A benediction concludes the ceremony. 

The flags surrounding the College Green during the University Ceremony represent the countries and tribal nations of the year’s graduates.

Speakers

Since its beginning in 1769, Brown’s Commencement has always featured graduating seniors as the principal speakers at the University Ceremony, rather than outside dignitaries. Two members of the senior class are selected by a faculty committee and announced in the spring.

Sunday, May 30, 2027 Location:Various Locations

All degrees are symbolically conferred during the University Ceremony. Following the University Ceremony, academic departments and programs hold separate departmental ceremonies where graduating students’ names are read and graduating seniors cross the stage to receive their diplomas. Many departments also welcome master’s and doctoral students. Students should consult with their departments to learn what the ticketing requirements are for these events.

View Departmental Ceremonies