2025 Commencement Weekend

Duke Commencement 2025

May 9โ€“11, 2025

Congratulations 2025 Graduates!

Graduates smile and applaud under a rain poncho
Faculty process into the stadium lead by Professor Trina Jones and the University Mace
Students celebrate as they enter the stadium

2025 Commencement Speakers

Grant Hill

President Price standing at the podium

โ€œClass of 2025, in your relatively short lifetimes, the world has already seen transformative developments, including breakthroughs in artificial intelligence; a revolution in media and information sharing, and the introduction of life-changing technologies including the iPhone and electric vehicles.โ€

President Vincent E. Price

When our class first arrived here, it wasnโ€™t just our first day of college. It was a kind of deliverance. A return from the zooms and zoom fatigue of the Covid years, from lockdowns, virtual birthday celebrations, loneliness, and that all too familiar refrain โ€“ youโ€™re muted. We had been holding our breath. Duke let us exhale.

Danica Bajaj, undergraduate student speaker

Danica Bajaj, a Robertson Scholar majoring in computer science and minoring in philosophy speaking at the podium
Lucas Vaughan, graduate student speaker, gives a peace sign while standing at the podium

โ€œThat shared ethos โ€” excellence and service drew me into something greater and challenged me to rise to its level. Thatโ€™s what Duke has meant to me.โ€

Lucas Vaughan, graduate student speaker

Graduates throw their hats and the camera and celebrate
Three students take a selfie once commencement is complete

Closing the Centennial Celebration

As Duke completes the celebration of its first 100 years, the a capella group Deja Blue performs Unwritten as a tribute to the next 100 years of Duke University.

2025 Commencement By The Numbers

6,800+

Graduates

1,788

Undergraduate Degrees

320+

From NC

A graduate sits with her Puppy Kindergarten dog

FIND YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY

Explore images captured on the field during the ceremony.

Class of 2025 Honors

Undergraduate research is one of the cornerstones of a Duke education. Find out more about some of the big questions members of the Class of 2025 took a closer look at.

A composite of the four students from the Honors project story
Tiles of photos of eight students

Eight Stories of Exploration

Duke and Duke Kunshan graduates came from around the globe, charged with curiosity about the major challenges facing societies. Here are a few of their profiles.

A group of students hold up their hats in front of Duke Chapel with a blue sky and light clouds in the background
A graduate and family sit on the lawn in front of Duke Chapel. The graduate puts his cap on the older of two young children's heads
Four students stand in front of the Chapel doors waving
Four students toss their caps in the air on Chapel Drive with Duke Chapel in the background
A group of student athletes stand on steps in front of Duke stone

Moments from Across Campus

In additional to the university-wide ceremony in Wallace Wade Stadium, commencement weekend consists of celebrations hosted by schools and programs across campus. Here is a small selection of photos from the many ceremonies recognizing and celebrating our graduates.

A graduate with an expression of joy on their face
MBS grads lining up in the fieldhouse for commencement
Duke Arts graduates
A choir singing at baccalaureate
A mother and daughter pose for a graduation photo
Duke Law students with purple sashes sit in their ceremony
Graduates standing with a light up DPT sign
Graduates out in front of Duke Chapel

Experience 2025 Commencement Weekend Again