All You Need to Know About Commencement 2017

Cap and gown? Check. Graduation tassels? Check. Ready to celebrate your academic accomplishments at Syracuse University? Check! Here’s what you’ll need to know as you prepare for Commencement 2017.

Syracuse University’s 163rd Commencement will take place Sunday, May 14, beginning with the degree candidates’ procession at 9:30 a.m.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr., civil rights activist and a senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC in New York, will deliver the Commencement address.

Syracuse University will confer 6,363 degrees, which are to the bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and associate’s degree candidates. The College of Law will confer 148 juris doctor and 27 master of law degrees during a ceremony Friday, May 12. The College of Law’s speaker will be U.S. Circuit Judge James E. Graves Jr. L’80, G’81, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

During Commencement, Syracuse University Chancellor and President Kent Syverud and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) President Quentin D. Wheeler will address the graduates. Syracuse Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly will preside.

Commencement 2016 Ceremony

The University will award honorary degrees to five recipients: Frank Bisignano, First Data chairman and CEO; Vernon E. Jordan Jr., civil rights activist and a senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC in New York; Vincent Poor, the Michael Henry Strater University Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University; Thomas Porter (Sakokwenionkwas, “the one who wins”), the founder, spokesperson and spiritual leader of the Mohawk Community of Kanatsiohareke; and Carrie Mae Weems, an internationally known photographer and video installation artist.

The two all-University Senior Class Marshals, Rachel Brown-Weinstock and Nedda Sarshar, will lead graduates during the ceremony. Brown-Weinstock, a native of Gloversville, New York, is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs majoring in sociology, policy studies, and citizenship and civic engagement. Sarshar, hailing from Toronto, Canada, is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School, majoring in writing and rhetoric, policy studies, and citizenship and civic engagement.

Along with the all-University marshals, 23 student marshals will represent the 13 schools and colleges at Syracuse University; ESF is represented by two student marshals. They were chosen on the basis of leadership abilities, participation in extracurricular activities, service to the University and academic achievement. The marshals will lead the degree candidates of their respective schools or colleges.

Twelve seniors have been designated as Syracuse University Scholars and three as SUNY-ESF Scholars. This is the highest academic award given to undergraduate students. Farrell Greenwald Brenner ’17 was selected as this year’s speaker on behalf of the Class of 2017.

Nancy Weatherly Sharp, professor emerita of newspaper journalism in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, will serve as mace bearer and lead the academic procession. The University Marshal is Shiu-Kai Chin, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Associate University Marshal is Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and professor and chair of reading and language arts in the School of Education.

The Army and Air Force ROTC cadets will present the colors.

The invocation will be given by Hendricks Chapel Interim Dean Samuel Clemence.

Also during the ceremony, retiring faculty members who have been recommended to receive the title of emeritus by the University Senate to the Syracuse University Board of Trustees will be recognized by Board of Trustees Chairman Steven W. Barnes ’82, who will also deliver a greeting.

Graduates will also receive an alumni welcome from Mark Verone ’95, president of the Syracuse University Alumni Association.

The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble will perform under the direction of James Spencer, professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. The national anthem will be sung by Kamala Sloss ’17, and Ha-Young (Heidi) Synn ’17 will sing the alma mater.

A live video stream will be broadcast for school and college Convocations as well as Sunday’s Commencement ceremony. Each ceremony’s stream will go live 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. Live streams.

Celebrate Commencement on social media using the hashtag #SUGrad17. Check out socialmedia.syr.edu/sugrad17/ to see the highlights.

WSYR-TV digital 9.2 (Spectrum Ch. 890 and Verizon FiOS 470) will also broadcast the majority of the ceremony, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

More information about Commencement 2017 can be found at commencement.syr.edu. View the 2017 Commencement Information Booklet here.