Open Menu Close Menu Open Search Close Search

Tufts University Commencement 2025

169th Commencement | May 18, 2025

TICKETS - The commencement ticketing platform is now open!!

Graduates will need to reserve tickets for themselves and each of their guests.  The Student Services Department from your Tufts School is sending out further instructions.

Ticket details:

  • This is an online, cloud-based ticketing system which is different from the Senior Week ticket system and SIS.
  • Graduates (from all schools) will be required to obtain tickets for themselves and each of their guests.  (If you do not know your Tufts ID number, please contact Student Services at your Tufts school.)
  • Tickets are free of charge.
  • Tickets are not limited.
  • There is no deadline for ordering tickets.
  • All ceremonies are open seating – no assigned seats.
  • Each Commencement attendee will receive one (1) ticket, titled “Tufts University 2025 Commencement”, which will serve as a “global pass” to all ceremonies held over the weekend, May 17 - May 18, 2025.  The same ticket will be used for all ceremonies.

Commencement Programs

Commencement programs with the orders of events for each graduation ceremony will be available on campus May 18.  Digital commencement programs with the list of degree candidates will also be available on line May 18.

 To receive a hard copy of a complimentary commemorative program with the listing of graduate names from Tufts' 169th Commencement, please complete this form by May 31. Programs will be printed and mailed in June 2025 and should arrive one to two months after the May ceremonies.

Phase I Ceremony

(Sunday, May 18, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)

All Tufts schools participate in the All-University Commencement ceremony (Phase I). It includes the Academic Procession, the awarding of honorary degrees, the All-University Commencement address, recognition of faculty emeriti, presentation of degree candidates by school and the granting of degrees by the Tufts University Board of Trustees. Phase I takes place on The Green, between Ballou Hall and Bendetson Hall. (Maps and Parking)

All attendees will have to present a ticket or an access pass to attend Commencement events. More details will be posted soon.

Phase II Ceremony

Phase II of Commencement at Tufts consists of individual degree ceremonies and luncheons. Immediately following the Phase I All-University Commencement (Sunday, May 18), individual department and school ceremonies will take place. It is at these ceremonies that graduates’ names are announced and students are individually recognized. Phase II ceremonies for departments of the School of Arts and Sciences and for the undergraduates in the School of Engineering are held in three waves: 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  Please note that the ceremony for Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine will take place in Grafton at 3:00 p.m.  (Maps and Parking)

Phase II ceremonies follow the All-University Phase I ceremony. Please see the appropriate school commencement site below.

2025 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients

Photo by Marlayna Demond of UMBC

 

Freeman A. Hrabowski III, mathematician, education leader, and president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2025.  Hrabowski’s research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. In 1988 Hrabowski co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, a national model, open to high-achieving students committed to pursuing graduate and professional degrees and research careers in STEM.  In 2012, President Barack Obama named him chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

 

In addition to Hrabowski, six other distinguished men and women will receive honorary degrees: Steven Boxer, chemist and educator; Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox and STEM advocacy leader; Peter Dolan, business leader, philanthropist, and Tufts Board of Trustees chairman emeritus; James O'Connell, president and founding physician of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program; and Nancy Schön, award-winning artist and activist.

Read more about our 2025 honorary degree recipients in TuftsNow.