Just over 2,000 eligible graduates and their families will celebrate at Sonoma State’s Commencement exercises on May 18, 2024 at Green Music Center with three ceremonies beginning at 9 a.m.
The event is especially poignant for students who entered SSU in 2020 and earned a degree in four years, after having their high school graduations canceled or truncated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of guests will be seated on Weill Lawn, where the ceremonies will be broadcast on a Jumbotron. Graduates had the option of securing two guest tickets each for seating inside Weill Hall.
All three ceremonies will be livestreamed; go to the webcasts page to connect.
Sign language interpreters will be present for the ceremonies.
A list of all academic majors within each SSU School is available online.
University President Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee and Provost Karen Moranski will confer degrees at each ceremony.
The School of Social Sciences graduation will begin at 9 a.m. The undergraduate speaker is Ana Lugo (B.A., Political Science), and the graduate student speaker is Thai Hilton (M.P.A, Political Science). Travis Saracco ’12, a member of the SSU Alumni Association Board, will give the Alumni Association address.
The School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Education graduations will begin at 1 p.m. During the Arts and Humanities ceremony, Dr. Greg Sarris, Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Student addresses will be given by undergraduate Kieleigh Calcagno (B.A. in English and Liberal Studies) and graduate student Tanya Ruys-Balk (M.A., Education). Holden Reyes, ’19, a member of the SSU Alumni Association Board, will give the Alumni Association address.
The School of Business and Economics and the School of Science and Technology ceremonies will begin at 5 p.m., during which Larry Brackett will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters. Kermena Yousif, (B.S., Kinesiology) is the student speaker. Christina Gonzalez Gamboa, ’19 and ’23, a member of the SSU Alumni Association Board, will give the Alumni Association address.
Graduates are asked to line up at Green Music Center’s Schroeder Hall at least one hour prior to their ceremony and to arrive dressed in their regalia. Shoes are required to cross the stage.
Weill Hall doors open for ticketed guests one hour prior to each ceremony’s start time. Tickets for seats inside Weill Hall are being issued electronically, and guests with those tickets are advised to download or print them prior to arrival.
No tickets are needed for outdoor seating.
Complimentary parking is available, with the closest general and accessible parking lots adjacent to the Green Music Center.
The SSU Commencement website has additional information and FAQs..