Notre Dame to confer 3,099 degrees over Commencement Weekend, May 17-18
The University of Notre Dame’s 180th Commencement Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 18, in Notre Dame Stadium.
Adm. Christopher Grady, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the principal speaker and will receive an honorary degree. Kerry Robinson, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities USA, will receive the 2025 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics.
Notre Dame will confer five additional honorary degrees on distinguished leaders in science, business, literature and media at the University Commencement Ceremony: Dr. Rafat Ansari, an oncologist, hematologist and community leader in South Bend, Indiana; Stephen Brogan, the former managing partner of Jones Day and an emeritus member of the University’s Board of Trustees; David Brooks, renowned author and political and cultural commentator; Teresa Lambe, the Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the University of Oxford and a principal investigator in the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine program; and Alice McDermott, a critically acclaimed author and winner of the 2024 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. Sister Rafaella Petrini, F.S.E., president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and the Governorate of Vatican City State, was also scheduled to receive an honorary degree but, due to the passing of Pope Francis, has elected to defer the honor until May 2026.
Clare Cullinan, a global affairs major with a minor in studio art from South Bend, will deliver the valedictory address, and salutatorian Bennett Schmitt, a double major in environmental sciences and applied and computational mathematics and statistics with a minor in energy studies, from Jasper, Indiana, will offer the invocation.
Rev. Canon Hugh R. Page Jr., vice president for institutional transformation and advisor to the president, will offer the benediction.
On Saturday, 548 students will receive master’s and doctoral degrees at the Graduate School Commencement Ceremony, along with 467 master’s degree students at the Mendoza College of Business ceremony and 183 at the Law School ceremony. The University will confer 2,084 degrees on undergraduate students at Sunday’s ceremony.
Weather permitting, graduates will process into the stadium at 9 a.m. Sunday, and the University Commencement Ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. All guests must have an e-ticket for admission.
The Commencement Mass will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday in Purcell Pavilion, with University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., presiding.
The Commencement Mass, University Commencement Ceremony and all diploma/hooding ceremonies will be livestreamed. A complete schedule of events is available on the Commencement website, and senior stories and other features are here.
Many common items will not be allowed in the stadium during Sunday’s ceremony. Visit the Commencement website for a complete list of prohibited items. In the event of severe weather, ceremonies will be moved indoors to the Joyce Center. Should weather conditions necessitate a move indoors, the University will communicate changes online and via ND Alert messages, social media and local news outlets.
Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, 574-993-9220, c.gates@nd.edu
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