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The Ford School is proud to celebrate the achievements of the graduating classes of 2025!Graduation eventsUniversity of Michigan Spring CommencementSaturday, May 3, 2025 Ford School Commencement CeremonySunday, May 4, 20254:00 PMHill AuditoriumInformation for graduating studentsEligibilityIn accordance with Rackham rules, students who graduate during the academic year (i.e., the previous December, in April/May, or the following August) will be eligible to participate in the Ford School's Commencement ceremony and walk across the stage. This includes Ford School students receiving BA, MPP, MPA, or PhD degrees. Barring a request for an exception, these are the only students who will be eligible to participate in the ceremony. Please contact Jordan Long, [email protected], if you would like to request an exception.Academic attireAcademic attire is required for the Commencement ceremony. All students are responsible for purchasing a gown, cap, and tassel. Masters and PhD students are also responsible for purchasing an academic hood. The color of the hood for public policy is teal. These items are available at the following stores: Barnes and Noble @ University of Michigan, Barnes and Noble @ North Campus, The M Den, and Michiganensian Yearbook beginning mid-March.The Ford School has some academic attire for loan on a first-come, first-served basis, which will be available starting in April. You will be required to sign each item out with the understanding that you'll return the borrowed items after Commencement. The gowns, hats, and hoods will be available for pick-up from the Office of Student & Academic Services during business hours. Prohibited itemsPlease note that we will use the Michigan Stadium 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.Information for Ford School Commencement guestsAccommodationsAccommodations in and around Ann Arbor for commencement weekend require reservations well in advance. For a list of hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts in the Ann Arbor vicinity, please visit: https://www.annarbor.org/hotels/ParkingParking is at a premium around campus and especially during commencement weekend. Please allow ample time to find parking. All U-M parking lots and structures will be open to the public on Sunday, May 4, 2025. The closest lot is on Thayer, and other nearby lots are shown on this map: https://ltp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/central_south.pdf Important U-M contact informationUniversity Commencement: (734) 647-7900Campus Information Center: (734) 764-4636 Ford School contact informationFord School events: [email protected] Long, Academic Advisor: [email protected]     

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Join for a conversation with former New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio. In conversation with STPP Director Professor Shobita Parthasarathy, the discussion will explore how urban tech is shaping social policy in “smart cities” like New York and beyond. How can we ensure that emerging technology serves the public interest, and what role can local, state, national, and even international policy play?    

Join for a conversation with the co-authors of The Injustice of Place alongside Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan COO Nicole Sherard-Freeman. Released in August 2023, The Injustice of Place sheds light on America’s most disadvantaged communities, tracing the legacies of our nation’s places of deepest need—including inequalities shaping people’s health, livelihoods, and upward social mobility for families.

Join us for an exciting event featuring U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo to reflect on economic growth, innovation, and American competitiveness.

Students, faculty, and staff: Join Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and the entire Ford School community in celebrating the beginning of the year and welcoming both old and new faces to Weill Hall. 

On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases about the consideration of race in college admissions, and on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions, thereby striking down the Supreme Court's 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ruling. Join for this virtual event to hear from Mara Ostfeld - political scientist and Research Director of the Center for Racial Justice - and Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt -  10th District Court of Appeals Judge for the State of Ohio and Ford School Towsley Policymaker in Residence - on the legal, social, and political implications of the ruling.