At the May 12 Native Graduation, each graduate was presented with a blanket from Eighth Generation, a Native-owned company that creates blankets designed by Native artists. The gifts celebrated the students’ accomplishments in higher education and were symbols of wishes for a prosperous road ahead.
Brittany Hosea-Small for UC Berkeley
J.P. Piña, who earned a B.A. in anthropology and archaeology, received a blanket at the International House graduation from Phenocia Bauerle (left) and Royale Pinassi, staff members at the Native American Student Development office.
Brittany Hosea-Small for UC Berkeley
The celebration was attended by the graduates’ friends and family members.
Brittany Hosea-Small for UC Berkeley
For the very first time, Berkeley’s transfer student programs — the Re-entry Student Program, TRIO Student Support Services, Miller Scholars Program and Transfer Student Center — held a joint celebration and send-off for the graduates they served.
Alberto Garcia/UC Berkeley
Members of the Cal Band set a festive tone at the event, which included a short program. Dania Matos, vice chancellor for the Division of Equity and Inclusion, was the keynote speaker. During an open mic segment, students shared stories, experiences and expressed gratitude, and all graduates received a gift.
Alberto Garcia/UC Berkeley
Lorena Valdez, deputy director of transfer programs, said the April 22 celebration at Alumni House was “an overwhelming success” and that more students attended — 120 — than had RSVP’d.
Alberto Garcia/UC Berkeley
Lavender Graduation, or LavGrad, celebrates LGBTQ+ students who are graduating and was held at Alumni House on May 4.
Courtesy of Gender Equity Resource Center
LavGrad began in 2000, and its traditions include each graduate receiving a rainbow tassel, graduate students receiving a lavender cord, and speakers receiving both, plus a rainbow stole. An alumnus donates orchid plants that guests may take home.
Courtesy of Gender Equity Resource Center
The rigorous STEM Excellence Through Equity and Diversity (SEED) Scholars program supports undergraduates in STEM fields to pursue graduate degrees. This is the first year the tight-knit group has held a graduation celebration. The event’s highlight was a pinning ceremony in which pins were placed on the grads’ Berkeley graduation stoles by people they designated. Here, Zaina Shaik, who earned a B.A. in computer science, is about to receive her pin.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
Students in SEED’s first cohort graduated this year; a fifth cohort arrives in fall 2024. Some of the 2024 graduates, like Zaina Shaik, are going to graduate school. Others, like Melvin Soriano (pictured), will initially work in a lab — he’ll be in the campus’s Staller Lab, in the Center for Computational Biology — while some have taken jobs in industry.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
The Student Parent Center, a multi-purpose campus resource for Berkeley students who also are parents, held a graduation celebration on May 13. Here, Denise Mendez walks proudly with her daughter, wearing regalia like her mom.
Lu Ramirez Martinez/UC Berkeley
Graduate Jamika Abair, bedecked in festive garlands, poses with loved ones for a photo.
Lu Ramirez Martinez/UC Berkeley
Olivia Theime, another graduating parent, holds her baby at the start of the celebration.
Lu Ramirez Martinez/UC Berkeley
UndocuGrad 2024 honored graduating undocumented students. About 40 grads and a few hundred of their fans participated in the East Pauley Ballroom celebration. Lisa Garcia Bedolla, vice provost for graduate studies and Graduate Division dean, was the keynote speaker.
Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley
Some students at the May 13 event expressed their pride by decorating their mortar boards.
Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley
Loved ones, some with bouquets, watched the ceremony and waited to greet their favorite graduates.
Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley
On May 17, the 37th annual Pil Grad, a celebration for graduating seniors in the Pilipinx community, was held at International House. More than 70 graduating students and 150 guests attended.
Clara Beatriz Perez/UC Berkeley
The theme of this year’s event was “Takipsilim,” the spirit of resilience and perseverance. It’s also a word in Tagalog for that fleeting, bittersweet moment — twilight — when day slips into night, and darkness hints at uncertainty, but we accept that life flows on.
Clara Beatriz Perez/UC Berkeley
Graduates received awards from members of the Filipinx Faculty and Staff Association, and the keynote speaker was Michael Bryann Gaetos, a Berkeley alumnus who came to the U.S. from the Philippines at age 3 with his family. A first-generation college student, he is now assistant director in the campus’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
Clara Beatriz Perez/UC Berkeley
The Multicultural Community Center has a tradition of giving each graduate a sunflower and inviting the students to share reflections on their time at UC Berkeley. The casual and fun event takes place at the center, where students have gathered regularly to study and relax.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
Graduates also received a Multicultural Community Center medal to add to their regalia for the May 15 event. The medal, worn around these grads’ necks, symbolizes the community they cultivated at the center.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
This event is deliberately small and intimate. This year, it included 15 graduates and 40 guests.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
Black Graduation, an annual and joyous ceremony, celebrates all Black/African/African American-identifying students who receive Berkeley undergraduate, master's, Ph.D., J.D. and other degrees.
Lu Ramirez Martinez/UC Berkeley
The event was held Friday, May 17 at Zellerbach Hall. It has historical roots and cultural importance that dates from the inception of the African American studies program in the 1970s at Berkeley.
Lu Ramirez Martinez/UC Berkeley
Black scholars come together as a community for this special event to inspire and uplift the new graduates and all who attend.
Lu Ramirez Martinez/UC Berkeley
This year, the Cal Veteran Services Center’s annual Hail and Farewell event, which highlights graduating and newly admitted student veterans, also celebrated the center’s 20th anniversary. On May 4 at the Bancroft Hotel venue, (from left) Brian Vargas, Jeff Stock, T.J. Bonner, Luis Hernandez and Howard Lattin strike a pose.
Courtesy of Cal Veteran Services Center
Students in the Native American Law Students Association who graduated this spring received blankets of their choice designed by a Native artist in a May 9 ceremony at the Bancroft Hotel. NALSA is a graduate student community devoted to seeing Native people represented in the law, and the law working on behalf of Native people.
Tylor Norwood/Berkeley Law
Kayla Clough, Gabrielle “Gabby” Cirelli and Dalton Valerio were among the graduates, who were were wrapped in their blankets by family and friends. “Blanketing ceremonies have a special significance in our (Native) community and are often used to mark a big achievement,” said Cirelli. “The blanketing ceremony shows respect for those who have made important contributions to the Native community … and was NALSA's way of honoring the graduates' contributions to the Berkeley Law community and beyond.”
Tylor Norwood/Berkeley Law
Beaded keychains made by non-graduating NALSA members were given as gifts to the graduating students.
Tylor Norwood/Berkeley Law
Several capullis, dance groups with Mexican Indigenous roots, took part in this year’s Chicanx Latinx graduation ceremonies at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 12, at the Greek Theatre. These dancers (pictured) offered an opening blessing.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
One student used her cap as a thank you. Translated from Spanish: "For my parents, who came here with nothing and gave me everything."
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
For the second year in a row, there were two Chicanx Latinx graduation events in one day at the Greek Theatre. The celebration has outgrown one ceremony. The hosts were the Chicanx/Latinx and ethnic studies departments, and the coordinators were Chicanx Latinx Student Development and the Division of Equity and Inclusion.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
It’s tradition at Chicanx Latinx and other community ceremonies at Berkeley that two loved ones walk their grad across the stage, as completing one’s degree is often a family and community effort. This practice also is a trend in higher education. Countries represented by the 2024 graduates included Peru, Brazil, Honduras, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
May 28, 2024
The big graduation ceremonies at Berkeley are the most familiar: commencement at California Memorial Stadium and departmental graduations in the Greek Theatre, Zellerbach Hall and other large venues. But many graduates also hold celebrations with the groups they’ve found community with while on campus, including student parents, student veterans, undocumented students, formerly incarcerated students and Native American students.
These alternative, community events have been happening for years and “provide a more intimate and personalized experience” for graduating students, catering to their “intersectional cultural, social and academic identities,” said Ashley Villanueva, director of communications for the Division of Equity and Inclusion. The organizers and sponsors of these events vary, and the ways graduates are honored are diverse.
But a common ingredient in them all is a shared sense of experiences and triumphs, and a deep feeling of community.
