{"id":1756,"date":"2025-05-15T14:59:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T14:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/?p=1756"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:49:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T13:49:52","slug":"2025-commencement-all-university-exercises-begin-at-yankee-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/15\/2025-commencement-all-university-exercises-begin-at-yankee-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 commencement: All-university exercises begin at Yankee Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A sea of violet robes flooded Yankee Stadium on Thursday morning as nearly 30,000 graduates and guests entered the arena in celebration of NYU\u2019s class of 2025, amid what President Linda Mills called \u201c<\/span>times of intense change<\/span><\/a>\u201d in the wake of a federal crackdown on higher education.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The May 15 ceremony opened with a mashup performance of \u201cLiving for the City\u201d by Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cWelcome to New York\u201d from Tisch and Steinhardt students and was followed by a procession led by Tandon professor and faculty senate chair Ryan Hartman and deans from each of NYU\u2019s 19 schools carry banners across the field.\u00a0<\/span>
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After the processions, Provost Georgina Dopico \u2014 who just finished her first year <\/span>officially in the position<\/span><\/a> \u2014 gave an opening pronouncement, officially convening the ceremony. Evan Chesler, chair of NYU\u2019s board of trustees, gave an ode to his time as a student at the College of Arts & Science and later the School of Law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt NYU, I learned how to think critically, ask important questions, and how to be open to a greater understanding of people and the world,\u201d Chelser said. \u201cNow, class of 2025 \u2014 it\u2019s your turn.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After a formal tribute to the class of 2025, student speaker Deziree Joy Harmon, from NYU\u2019s Shanghai campus, addressed the crowd. Harmon recounted her time at NYU Shanghai and experience traveling across the world for college.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything it took to get here, we made it,\u201d Harmon said. \u201cBeing here at NYU means becoming equipped to build bridges between friends, communities, ideas, conflicts, countries \u2014 bridge building is another kind of figuring it out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Mills began to present this year\u2019s honorary degree recipients with their diplomas, graduates in the crowd booed and several started to walk out of the arena. At last year\u2019s ceremony, dozens of students wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags booed and walked out as Mills gave her commencement address, demanding that NYU divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

SPS professor and assistant dean of real world David Hollander introduced and presented New York Liberty CEO Keia Clarke with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Hollander commended Clarke for \u201cpromoting the expansion\u201d of the WNBA\u2019s brand and \u201ctaking women\u2019s basketball to new heights.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tandon executive vice president presented physicist Walter Massey with an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Mills applauded him for making \u201csuch an indelible imprint on so many facets of society.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tisch professor John Tintori presented former \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d star Molly Shannon, <\/span>also this year\u2019s commencement speaker<\/span><\/a>, with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Mills praised her for lifting \u201cour spirits across amicable performances,\u201d and called Shannon a \u201cfearless, spell-binding performer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shannon, who graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts in 1987, congratulated graduates before giving advice on how to deal with failure, using Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey and Stephen King as examples of unlikely success stories. She said that after graduating from Tisch, she was rejected from auditions and described her journey as a receptionist for a video dating service, selling office supplies, a Nordstrom fragrance model and a waitress.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re able to simply try to make a dream real, not only are you lucky, but you\u2019re already a success,\u201d Shannon said. \u201cAllow yourself some happiness along the way \u2014 not just when you reach your goal. Enjoy the experience of creating yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shannon advised students to \u201cembrace who you are\u201d and \u201capprove yourself,\u201d describing how she created her breakout character and organized her live shows while struggling to find work through auditions. She recounted her time auditioning for SNL, where she was initially rejected, and the start of her six-year run on the NBC show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mills proceeded to take the stage, and was met with more booing and student walkouts. In her commencement address, Mills\u2019 speech focused on a research-oriented review of happiness, saying that its \u201cbest predictor\u201d is \u201chaving close relationships.\u201d Mills called persistent loneliness \u201cvery serious business,\u201d and said that it can have the same health effects of \u201csmoking 15 cigarettes a day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere at NYU, you discovered your found family \u2014 those who support you and lift you up in return,\u201d Mills said. \u201cYour graduation today marks not the end of these relationships. Instead, it\u2019s your first true test of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deans from each school then conferred degrees and advanced certificates to candidates of respective schools. To complete the commencement, <\/span>Former President John Sexton, a professor at the School of Law, passed the torch to the youngest baccalaureate degree candidate, 18-year-old CAS graduate Leo Vu. Mills then congratulated all the graduates in the crowd as confetti fell across the stadium.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On-campus tensions have continued over this past year, with <\/span>massive cuts to federal research funding<\/span><\/a>, what many have called unprecedented <\/span>threats to international students<\/span><\/a> and placement on at least two lists of schools <\/span>targeted by President Donald Trump<\/span><\/a>. Mills has also faced backlash for her response to an onslaught of on-campus protests against Israel\u2019s ongoing siege in Gaza over the past year, including dozens of student suspensions and multiple faculty arrests at pro-Palestinian encampments.<\/span><\/p>\n

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