Commencement 2025 Sunday, May 25, 2025

Held the day before Commencement, Baccalaureate offers a time to pause and reflect, to remember and rejoice, being fully present to those around us.

Photographs of honors, inductions, traditions, and bravos on the Friday before Commencement 2022 at Bates College illustrate the sweet intensity of it all.

From last-minute fit adjustments, to photos with staff and faculty on Alumni Walk and the joyous cap-toss, highlights from the Class of 2022’s big day.

Text and video of the witty, warm, and insightful 2022 Commencement Address by Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control.

From just after 7 a.m. to just after noontime, follow along as Bates gave the Class of 2022 a long, last embrace.

With a nod to the past and a look to the future, the Class of 2022 marched through Commencement in style — with a few personal touches.

Join us on Sunday morning, May 29, for live coverage, beginning at 9:30 a.m., of the 156th Bates Commencement as we celebrate the Class of 2022 and welcome Commencement speaker Dr. Nirav Shah, leader of the COVID-19 public health response in Maine, and fellow honorary degree recipients Michael Bonney ʼ80, Nikki Giovanni, and Becca Stevens.

“We treat those with different beliefs not just as incorrect, but as ignorant,” said Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and a luminary in the state’s COVID-19 response. “Don’t do that,” he told the seniors. Instead, “be someone who builds trust.”

Honorary degree citations for Michael W. Bonney ’80, Nikki Giovanni, Becca Stevens, and Dr. Nirav Shah, presented at Bates Commencement on May 22, 2022.

Aided by seniors keen on making the campus look great for their graduation, the Bates grounds crew plants annuals here and there, including an iconic Commencement location.