Celebrating the Classes of 2025

Platform party

Elissa Slotkin, United States Senator from the State of Michigan; Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, and professor of sociology; Stephanie Leiser, lecturer in public policy; Kathryn Dominguez, associate dean for academic affairs, professor of public policy and economics; Jeffrey Morenoff, associate dean for research and policy engagement, professor of public policy and sociology; Jon Hanson, lecturer in statistics for public policy, and MPP/MPA program director; Paula Lantz, James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy, professor of public policy and health management & policy, BA program director, and elected faculty speaker; Kevin Stange, professor of public policy and PhD program director; Mary Grace Ortega (BA ‘25), elected undergraduate speaker; Kenneth Wilson (MPP ‘25), elected graduate speaker; Julia Brownell (BA ‘25), undergraduate student flag-bearer; Samuel Owusu (MPP ‘25), graduate student flag-bearer

Watch live

Safety and security

This event is for members of the Ford School community and invited guests. All graduates, staff, faculty, and guests will need a ticket to enter Hill Auditorium for the ceremony.

Tickets for the Ford School Commencement Ceremony will be available for graduates and all Ford School community members starting on April 14. Those who wish to attend the ceremony can claim a ticket in the Student and Academic Services office during normal business hours (8am-5pm, M-F). The last day to claim a ticket is May 2. Graduating students have received more information on ticketing via email.

Please take careful note of this list of prohibited items, which includes purses, umbrellas, containers, video cameras, and more. Guests will be refused entry if they are in possession of any of the items listed, or will have to leave items unguarded on the steps of Hill Auditorium. Please be sure to read the list carefully and leave any prohibited items in your car or at home.

All attendees at our ceremony will pass through weapons detectors. These machines will be staffed by University of Michigan security personnel.

The auditorium doors will close at 4:20pm to avoid disruptions to the ceremony. Please be sure to arrive in plenty of time to enter the facility. 

Protest, speech, and disruption

Our ceremony is a celebration of the accomplishments of our graduating students.

The University of Michigan has a longstanding commitment to free speech and free expression.

We know that our community members will bring their full selves to Hill Auditorium, including their passionate convictions, fears, and hopes. We will see and hear differences on display, as graduations in general are often sites of free expression and peaceful protest. Whether taped to mortarboards or articulated on stage, each of us might hear viewpoints with which we disagree and that might feel painful, especially at a celebratory event.

It is important to note that while we respect the right to free expression, we also understand and respect that peoples’ reactions to the speech of others can be deeply personal. Freedom of expression also means that individuals who object to the use of some language or symbols at an event like this one might choose to vacate our space–perhaps temporarily–so that they will not be exposed to expressions that offend or hurt them. Video monitors will be in the lobby of Hill Auditorium so that those who chose to step out of the ceremony for any reason can see when they might want to step back in.

Across campus and at the Ford School ceremony as well, deans and directors will generally be patient with lawful disruptions. If protests significantly impede the program, leadership will take steps to de-escalate and address the interruption.

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are antithetical to everything we stand for as a University of Michigan community and as the Ford School. We ask that all graduates and attendees take care to account for the humanity and perspectives of others.

We may see our differences at the ceremony, and we will also see and hear the values we share: a commitment to the public good, a generous sense of belonging, and the imperative in a diverse society to seek and recognize the humanity in others.
 

Join us at the Ford School graduation reception following the ceremony

Graduates, family, and friends are warmly invited to gather on the front plaza of Hill Auditorium for light refreshments immediately following the Ford School Commencement ceremony.

Details 

There are many different ways to stay engaged

• Keep your contact information up-to-date. Fill out your graduation check-in survey. Having your most recent contact information means you won’t miss out on Ford School news, events, and updates. Each time you move and/or change jobs, you can update your contact information by filling out a form linked on that page.
   
• Attend Ford School events. The events calendar is the best place to find the details and RSVP for these opportunities to engage with your fellow alumni. Save the date: July 10 - Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day.
   
• Join the LinkedIn group. Connect with over 2,700 Ford School alumni and continue to  grow your Ford School network!
   
• Plug into our resources for continued learning and growth. As an alum, you may still access some of the Ford School’s professional and educational resources, such as FordCareers. You may register as an alum in FordCareers and/or learn more about the career resources available through the U-M Alumni Association. 
   
• Maintain your connection through the U-M Alumni Association with your family of 670,000+Wolverines. Check out the career resources, access to alumni clubs and alumni communities, or whatever interests you by visiting alumni.umich.edu. 
   
• Meet with current students and share your professional expertise with them through office hours, mock interviews, and resume reviews. Upcoming opportunities to volunteer include: Fall 2025 - Alumni Office Hours; details available in early fall '25.
   
• Become an Alumni Admissions Ambassador and help recruit the next class of the leaders and best. Alumni Admissions Ambassadors attend recruitment fairs, make phone calls to admitted students, and/or share Ford School recruitment materials with friends, colleagues, and family members who are prospective students.
   
• Send in job and internship opportunities with your organizations—as you get settled in your jobs—to [email protected]. Make your fellow Fordies your colleagues!
   
• When you’re able to, pay it forward for future Fordies as they prepare to take on our communities’ and world’s most pressing challenges by making a gift. Learn more about the impact outside support has on Ford School students.
   
• Follow the Ford School on social media.

And don't forget, as a new grad, the U-M Alumni Association also welcomes you to a family of 650,000+ fellow Wolverines. Check out their website for information on accessing alumni community career resources and networking opportunities.

.. there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together."

Gerald R. Ford (AB '35, HLLD '74), 38th President of the United States

Forever, and always, Go Blue!