Undergraduate Degree Ceremony

PROCESSIONAL
Killian Court Brass Ensemble
conducted by Kenneth Amis

WELCOME
Sally Kornbluth
President

TURNING OF THE CLASS RING 
Natalie Lorenz Anderson ’84
President, MIT Alumni Association

INTRODUCTION
Sally Kornbluth
President

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
“Spain,” by Chick Corea
Performed by:
   Emily Jin ’25
   Vocals; Department of Economics
   Andrew Li ’25
   Saxophone; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

ADDRESS
Melissa Nobles
Chancellor

INTERLUDE
Killian Court Brass Ensemble

INTRODUCTION OF DEGREES
Cynthia Barnhart ’86 PhD ’88
Provost

PRESENTATION OF DEGREES
Diplomas will be presented by the School deans in a simultaneous, alternating pattern. Degree recipients will approach from both sides of the stage, announced in alphabetical order by last name within their departments.

CLOSING
Sally Kornbluth
President

RECESSIONAL
Killian Court Brass Ensemble

Live StreamText captioning: https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=_MIT_2

Chancellor Melissa Nobles is responsible for overseeing more than 60 interconnected offices at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that deliver a whole student education by supporting undergraduate and graduate students’ academic success, fostering community and wellbeing, and cultivating personal and intellectual growth. Reporting to the president, the chancellor and the provost are the Institute’s two most senior academic officers.

Nobles is the Class of 1922 professor of political science and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1995. Before being appointed chancellor in 2021, she served as the Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) and as head of the Department of Political Science.

Throughout her distinguished career at MIT, Nobles helped create a new theater building and the Linde music building, which is a state-of-the-art center for music research, innovation, and performance. She also championed the pioneering “MIT & Slavery” research class; secured new support for graduate students, postdocs, and professorships in SHASS; and launched several labs focused on digital humanities, music technology, election data and science, and climate action.

Nobles’ teaching includes graduate courses in transitional justice, ethnic politics, and nationalism, as well as undergraduate courses in comparative politics, Latin American studies, ethnic conflict in world politics, and social movements in comparative perspective. Her international, comparative research focuses on restorative justice in light of ethnic and racial conflicts.

Nobles graduated from Brown University with a degree in history and received her MA and PhD in political science from Yale University. She has held fellowships at Boston University’s Institute for Race and Social Division and Harvard University’s Radcliffe Center for Advanced Study. She has also served on the editorial boards of Polity, American Political Science Review, and Perspectives on Politics, and as a guest editor for a special issue of Nature.

Nobles has also been involved in faculty governance at MIT and beyond, serving as associate chair of the MIT Faculty from 2007 to 2009, and vice president of the American Political Science Association.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND MUSICIANS
Acknowledgments and the full list of musicians are available on the acknowledgments page.

BROADCAST VIEWING
Indoor viewing is available in select rooms across campus, including Buildings 1, 2, 3, and 4, as well as Rooms 6-120, 10-250, W20-202, 26-100, 45-230, 32-123, Kresge Auditorium, MIT Welcome Center, and Kendall/MIT Open Space.

For a complete list of indoor viewing locations, visit the indoor viewing locations page.

DIGITAL DIPLOMAS
All graduating students are eligible to receive a digital diploma at no cost. To get started, visit the Registrar's site, download the Blockcerts Wallet app, and add MIT as an issuer to ensure you'll receive your digital diploma as soon as it's available.

HISTORY AND SYMBOLISM
Learn about the history and symbolism behind MIT ceremonies—including academic regalia, the ceremonial mace, the shepherd's staff, and the MIT seal—on the History and Symbolism page.

LOST AND FOUND
Lost and found items will be available at the information tents and at MIT Police thereafter.

MAPS
Print copies of campus and shuttle maps are available at the information tents. You can also view them online:
• MIT campus map
• Commencement and MIT Tech shuttle routes map

A map of Killian Court for the Undergraduate Degree Ceremony is below.

PHOTOGRAPHS
GradImages will photograph graduates as they cross the stage and as they return to their seats. After the ceremony, you can visit their website to view and purchase prints, plaques, specialty gifts, and more.

There is no designated area from which guests may take photographs or video record during the ceremony.

RECEPTIONS
To view the full list of receptions, please visit: bit.ly/mit-receptions

SOCIAL MEDIA
Use #MIT2025 in your social media posts and tag us!

Instagram: @mit, @mitalumni, @mitcommencement
Facebook: MIT News, MIT Alumni Association
X: @MIT, @MITStudents, @MIT_alumni

Go to MIT’s social media hub to experience the day through MIT social media accounts.

WEBCAST, VIDEO, AND CAPTIONING
MIT Video Productions provides a live webcast of the Undergraduate Ceremony, with a recording available for on-demand viewing after the event.

Live StreamText captioning is available for the Undergraduate Ceremony via personal mobile devices: https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=_MIT_2

The Academic Procession at the Undergraduate Degree Ceremony is led by the Chair of the Faculty. The stage assembly—comprising MIT senior leaders, members of the MIT Faculty, the class marshals, and senior soloists—follows. The guests of honor—the graduating seniors—then march into Killian Court. Following the ceremony, the stage assembly recesses, while the graduates and guests adjourn.

Undergraduate Degree Ceremony program (PDF)

Class of 2025 name book