After two years of disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 154th graduating class will enjoy a Commencement weekend with fewer restrictions, although some changes remain.    

To reduce crowd size, two ceremonies will take place in-person at Schoellkopf Field on May 28, but without limits on the number of guests students could invite. President Martha E. Pollack will give an address at both ceremonies, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Both ceremonies will be livestreamed on CornellCast; links will be made available a few days before the event.

After Commencement on May 28, a Ph.D. recognition ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. at Barton Hall, and students and visitors can attend a choir concert at Bailey Hall at 8 p.m. ROTC commissioning will be held May 27, and college events and ceremonies will take place throughout the weekend.

All graduates, faculty, staff and guests are required to wear high-quality masks when indoors, regardless of vaccination or booster status. When outdoors, guests are encouraged to wear masks in crowded spaces, test before the event and stay home if symptomatic. Cornell will provide free masks and will have antigen test kits available for faculty, staff and students with a Cornell NetID. Tests can be picked up at the Robert Purcell Community Center and East Hill Plaza testing sites on May 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In the case of inclement weather, ceremonies could be delayed up to an hour. If the weather poses danger and it’s necessary to cancel, the ceremonies will not be rescheduled. Updates on delays and cancellation will be available at Cornell’s website.  

Visitors can watch Commencement indoors via livestream in Lynah Rink and the Statler Hall Auditorium. The ceremonies will also air on DirecTV channel 133.

This year, Senior Convocation is an in-person event for graduating seniors only and will take place before Commencement weekend, on May 25 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., with livestreaming available through CornellCast. Actress Constance Wu will speak.

The schedule of ceremonies at Schoellkopf Field is as follows:
 

Saturday, May 28 – The first ceremony, 10 a.m. Guests arrive 7:30 to 9 a.m. The academic procession will start at 9 a.m.

• Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Architecture, Art and Planning
• College of Human Ecology
• Cornell Graduate School (Review list of fields to attend)
• Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
• Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
• Cornell Tech
• Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration
• Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
• School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Saturday, May 28 – The second ceremony, 2:30 p.m. Guests arrive 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The academic procession will start at 1:30 p.m.

• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Engineering
• College of Veterinary Medicine
• Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
• Cornell Graduate School (Review list of fields to attend)
• Cornell Law School

Transportation and parking

Campus parking is free for guests of graduates Friday morning through 9 p.m. Monday. On Saturday, all central campus roads, including those surrounding Schoellkopf Field, will be closed 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the safety of pedestrians. Please review parking and directions for parking, buses, and accessibility information.

Safety and Security

The Cornell Police will conduct bag-check security at Commencement ceremonies. Please review security measures for the weekend.

Cornell visitor text messages

Cornell visitors can sign up for emergency notifications, such as weather alerts, by texting “CornellVisitor” (without the quotation marks) to 226787.

For more details, please check the Cornell Office of Commencement Events website.