Colgate’s 202nd commencement was held May 21, 2023. The keynote address was delivered by jazz trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, director of the Jazz Studies Program at the Juilliard School, and president of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

A group of graduates toss their caps into the air as they stand on Willow Path

 

 

See news stories, texts of speeches, videos, and photo galleries from past commencements.

 

Colgate’s 201st commencement was held May 22, 2022. The keynote address was delivered by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times critic at large, and co-host of the podcast Still Processing, Wesley Morris.

Class of 2022 graduates assemble for ceremony

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Colgate’s 200th commencement was held May 9, 2021. The keynote address was delivered by Ambassador Samantha Power.

Following an academic year interrupted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, commencement for the Class of 2020 was unprecedented in Colgate history.

Conferral of Degrees Ceremony, Sunday, May 17, 2020

President Brian Casey conferred the degrees of the graduating Class of 2020 in a virtual ceremony featuring the names and submitted photos of the graduates.

Messages of Support from Around the Colgate Community

Colgate’s 197th commencement was held May 21, 2017. The keynote address was delivered by Claudia Rankine, nationally renowned poet and recipient of the 2016 MacArthur “Genius” Grant.

Student in cap and gown wreathed in flowers, beaming

Colgate’s 194th commencement was held May 17, 2015. The keynote address was delivered by Eddie S. Glaude Jr., the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African American studies and the chair of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University.

Student in cap and gown laughs during speaker’s remarks