As It Happened: Harvard Celebrates 374th Commencement

As new graduates and their families left Tercentenary Theatre at the end of Commencement and turned their cellphones back on, they were met with news that a federal judge had extended a block on the Trump administration’s attempt to cut off Harvard’s ability to enroll international students.

Though many attendees had not taken in the details of the ruling, which was announced in a hearing in Boston midway through novelist Abraham Verghese’s address, they said they were glad to hear Harvard’s international students were receiving further relief.

Haroon Hyder, a Harvard School of Public Health graduate, said it was “common sense” to protect international students since they are “what makes Harvard great.”

Harvard 374th Commencement concluded at 12:11 pm as the bells of the Memorial Church began ringing across Tercentrary Theatre.

Pusey Minister Matthew Ichihashi Potts delivered the closing benediction, warning that while there will be a “range of threats and dangers” beyond Harvard Yard, the new graduates had the ability to do good in the world.

“We’ve seen what you can do,” Potts said. “Now go and do it.”

In his address to the Class of 2025, Stanford University professor and best-selling novelist Abraham Verghese lauded Harvard’s opposition to the Trump administration’s recent attacks against it — and acknowledged the “outrage” students may be feeling.

Verghese, who worked alongside Garber at Stanford for four years, praised his former colleague’s decision to defy federal pressure and take the Trump administration to court in two separate suits.

Garber conferred six honorary doctorate degrees after Harvard Provost John F. Manning ’82 introduced each recipient and recited a list of their accomplishments to repeated applause from the Class of 2025.

The recipients included basketball all-star and Harvard College Class Day speaker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Pennsylvania State University professor Richard B. Alley; Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Esther Duflo; University of California Berkeley professor Elaine H. Kim; actress Rita D. Moreno; and physician and Commencement speaker Abraham Verghese.

As Carolyn Hao ’26 sang “Somewhere” from West Side Story — a movie that Moreno starred in — Moreno quietly sang along with tears streaming down her face.

Two individuals unfurled a banner bearing the message “There Are No Universities Left in Gaza” at the top of the steps to Widener Library, before it was confiscated by a Harvard University Police Department officer.

The confiscation resulted in a heated confrontation between the officer and the individuals who had held up the banner.

Updated May 31, 2025, at 2:41 a.m.

BOSTON — A federal judge on Thursday upheld a block on the Trump administration’s attempt to end Harvard’s enrollment of international students while the University’s lawsuit against the federal government proceeds in court.

Manning finally introduced outgoing Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana — who is set to leave his post at the end of June — and acknowledged his “years of devoted service.”

Khurana was welcomed to the microphone with thundering, lasting applause, jumps of joy, and chants of “Khurana.” When the applause died down, Khurana simply smiled — and thanked his students.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

Harvard Provost John F. Manning ’82 took the podium to begin summoning deans of Harvard’s schools to present their candidate to Garber, fellows of the Harvard Corporation, and the Board of Overseers.

Manning first introduced Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra, before moving to Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Emma Dench. Manning then continued to go one-by-one through the remaining schools, inviting their respective deans to the podium.

Several of the deans’ remarks were met with a tidal wave of applause from the crowd.

A white banner bearing the message “Harvard Divest from Genocide in Gaza” in red and black lettering was unfurled from the second floor of Sever Hall. At least three Harvard administrators promptly entered the building, scouring through the second floor to locate the room from which it was displayed.

While the banner was taken down minutes after it was unfurled by a Harvard University Police Department officer, the Harvard administrators were seemingly unable to find the individuals who had unfurled the banners.

Updated May 29, 2025, at 11:56 a.m.

Harvard Kennedy School student Yurong “Luanna” Jiang urged her classmates to remain compassionate despite the “division, fear, and conflict” that defines the country today.

“We’re starting to believe that people who think differently, vote differently, or pray differently — whether they’re across the ocean or sitting right next to us — are not just wrong,” she said. “But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Thor N. Reimann ’25 praised Harvard for continuing its legacy as a symbol of resistance and called on his classmates to carry that tradition forward.

“This community — our community — has led the way through chaos before,” he said.

He veered away from his prepared remarks to celebrate Harvard’s defiance of the Trump administration.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 opened the University’s 374th Commencement with a message centered on curiosity, humility, and the perils of intellectual complacency — delivering an apolitical speech amid a deeply politicized backdrop.

Garber did not reference the Trump administration’s recent move to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, nor did he address the ongoing lawsuits the University has filed in response. He also avoided any mention of anti-Trump protests that have dominated headlines throughout the spring.

Thousands of graduates, families, and faculty rose to their feet in a nearly one-minute long standing ovation for Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 as he took the stage.

Garber, taken by surprise, smiled.

Harvard College senior Madison R. Webb ’25 opened Harvard’s 374th Commencement with the national anthem, drawing a flurry of applause from thousands in the audience.

Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond — the co-pastor of the Bethel AME Church in Boston and a practitioner at the Harvard Divinity School — then delivered a prayer and land acknowledgement.

In her impassioned address, White-Hammond applauded the “rich tapestry of humanity” among the graduating class, celebrating the “different races, religions, gender identities, ethnicities, countries of origin” among the graduates.

Harvard University’s 374th Commencement has officially begun.

With a dramatic flourish, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian strode to the podium and struck his scepter three times.

“As the high sheriff of Middlesex County, I declare that the meeting will be in order,” he bellowed.

A coalition of Harvard and Boston-area labor organizations passed out flyers around the entrances to Harvard Yard before Thursday’s Commencement ceremony began, urging attendees to call on the University to use endowment funds to protect non-tenure-track faculty.

The flyer and an associated webpage, linked with a QR code, called on recipients to email University administrators, including President Alan M. Garber ’76, with a variety of demands. They asked Garber to preserve faculty appointments for non-tenure-track faculty and protect research funding with money from the University’s endowment.

“I really worry that the institution’s not just spirit, but its legacy is threatened right now, not just by the federal funding cuts, but also by Harvard's own behavior, to choose not to save certain folks and save others,” Lisa Gulesserian, Harvard Academic Workers-United Auto Workers member, said.

A column of faculty and administrators walked down the aisle in Tercentenary Theatre to take their seats on the Commencement stage.

Officials including Harvard School of Public Health Dean Andrea A. Baccarelli, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Emma Dench, and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra, as well as dozens of faculty, waved to their students — drawing cheers.

Harvard Arts and Humanities Dean Sean Kelly praised University President Alan M. Garber ’76 for standing up to the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the University in an address to graduating seniors — and urged them to mimic Garber by defending against “threats to freedom.”

“Even in a free country like our own, there are many threats to freedom,” said Kelly, who is stepping down from his post as the Dunster House faculty dean this year. “As liberally educated individuals, you must nurture the ability to recognize these threats, and you must acknowledge the responsibility to stand against them.”

Some undergraduate students can be spotted with a white flower pinned to their lapel, representing support for international students. Matas Kudarauskas ’25 and Ida Kozuchowska ’25, two international students, said they began organizing the flowers on Sunday, and raised $500 from the Harvard International Relations Council and the Harvard Undergraduate Woodbridge International Society to buy more than 800 of the flowers. Using a team of volunteers who brought the flowers to each dining hall last night for students to pick up before the morning’s procession from the houses.

“We came up with white flowers as a symbol of innocence in this situation, that we’re being treated like hostages,” Kudarauskas said, of international students.

As families flocked into Harvard Yard for the University’s 374th Commencement, some were handed a mock program that parodied the official ceremony and doxxed more than two dozen Harvard students and organizers — mostly affiliated with pro-Palestine student groups.

The materials were distributed by Accuracy in Media, a conservative advocacy group led by president Adam Guillette, who was seen handing out flyers outside the Harvard Yard gates Thursday morning. The group also stationed a large digital doxxing truck near Johnston Gate. The billboard displayed student photos and names under the heading “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites” and threatened that “accountability doesn’t end on Commencement day.”

More than 50 pro-Palestine protesters lined Massachusetts Avenue Thursday morning to demonstrate against the University’s ties to Israel during the war in Gaza while graduating seniors and their families processed into Harvard Yard for the University’s 2025 Commencement exercises.

The demonstration was organized by local branches of several larger pro-Palestine organizations, including Massachusetts Peace Action, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace. It spanned the length of the sidewalk from Johnston Gate to Widener Gate. Protesters held signs calling on Harvard to end repression of pro-Palestine speech, including ones that read “Support Students Punished for Opposing Genocide” and “Stop Arming Israel.”

The Yard pulses with celebration as the procession of advanced degree candidates begins. “Fair Harvard” plays over the loudspeakers, blending with the wail of bagpipes and a rising tide of cheers, applause, and camera flashes. Students in black and crimson robes file into Tercentary Theatre, their steps steady and joyful.

True to tradition, many graduate schools brought small emblems of identity and purpose. Harvard Divinity School students unfurled a long teal ribbon, Harvard Extension School carried genie lamps, and Harvard Business school waved small red flags.

Graduates from the Harvard Business School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Harvard Medical School have all filed into the Tercentenary Theatre with props in hands and smiles on their faces.
HBS graduates waved red flags with an HBS logo, while HSPH graduates created commotion with branded clappers.

Students from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences were the first to walk into the Yard with banners of their schools.

Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health have also begun to process in.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

As graduating seniors and their families lined up outside the gates to Harvard Yard, several said they were proud of the University for standing up to Trump’s attacks on Harvard and higher education.

“We’re going into one of the most volatile times in education and being a graduate of Harvard, but kind of still representing and showing we will not back down to intimidation,” said Natalie D. Figueroa, a student graduating from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Some families said that the difficult year the University has had makes Commencement even more special.

Members of Crimson Courage — an alumni group advocating for academic freedom — distributed flyers outside the gates of Harvard Yard Thursday morning as the first students and parents lined up for the ceremony.

The flyers emphasized constitutional rights and academic independence and took aim at United States President Donald Trump’s campaign against Harvard and higher education writ large.

In an interview, Piotr P. “Pio” Szamel ’10 said that the group was distributing the flyers to encourage Harvard “to continue to stand up and also to support the University in standing up to the Trump administration.

Hundreds of graduating seniors arrived at Harvard Yard this morning with white flowers pinned to their gowns — a quiet but powerful gesture of support for the University’s international student body.

The initiative, organized by a group of international students at Harvard College, saw over 800 white flowers distributed across dining halls and residential Houses ahead of Commencement.

Crimson editors are out in force this morning, handing out the special Commencement edition of The Harvard Crimson at every entrance to the Yard. Snag a copy on your way in — or catch the digital version online — for all the headlines, highlights, and history in the making.

Under cloudy skies and light drizzle, early risers have already begun lining up outside Harvard Yard for today’s ceremonies despite the soggy conditions.

Custodial staff worked through the early morning hours to wipe down chairs and tables, clearing away standing water left behind by the overnight showers. But persistent overcast hasn’t deterred attendees from arriving early to secure prime seats in Tercentenary Theatre.