Speakers at Historic Hilltop Campus Include Emmy Award-winning Actor, WHO Leader and UN Commissioner
Georgetown University will hold commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2025 on the weekend of May 15-18. Each of the undergraduate and professional schools at the University will hold its own ceremony featuring different marquee speakers, including (in alphabetical order):
- Dr. Luis Arriaga Valenzuela, president, Ibero-American University (Graduate School of Arts & Sciences)
- Ajaypal Banga, president, World Bank Group (McDonough School of Business: graduate ceremony)
- Dr. Victor J. Dzau, president, National Academy of Medicine (School of Medicine)
- Samuel H. Feist (L’99), CEO, C-SPAN (McCourt School of Public Policy)
- Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard University; Peabody Award-winning filmmaker; host of PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” (Georgetown Law)
- Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations (Walsh School of Foreign Service: graduate ceremony)
- Dr. Loretta Sweet Jemmott, M. Louise Fitzpatrick Endowed Professor of Community and Home Health Nursing, Villanova University’s Fitzpatrick College of Nursing (School of Nursing)
- Steve Pemberton, managing director, Seramount (School of Continuing Studies)
- Michael G. Psaros (B’89), co-founder and co-managing partner, KPS Capital Partners (McDonough School of Business: undergraduate ceremony)
- Kono Taro (SFS’86), member, House of Representatives in Japan (Walsh School of Foreign Service: undergraduate ceremony)
- Dr. Daniel Ming-Chung Tsai (G’79), chairman, Fubon Group (Georgetown Law)
- Dr. Maria D. Van Kerkhove, interim director of the department of epidemic and pandemic threat management, World Health Organization (School of Health)
- Henry Winkler, Emmy Award-winning actor and author (College of Arts & Sciences)
WHEN
Thursday, May 15, through Sunday, May 18, 2025
A full schedule of ceremonies and celebrations is available online.
WHERE:
Georgetown University
37th & O Streets NW
Washington, DC
Almost all ceremonies will take place on Healy Lawn, just inside Georgetown’s front gate. In the event of severe weather, Healy Lawn events will be held at McDonough Arena on Georgetown’s Hilltop campus. See the full schedule for more details.
RSVP:
To request credentials to cover commencement on campus, members of the media must email media@georgetown.edu. Please specify if you will need a camera position.
Georgetown University is a private campus. Permission must be granted by the Georgetown University Office of Communications in advance of media attendance.
MEDIA KIT AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES
- LIVESTREAM: All commencement ceremonies will be broadcast live on Georgetown’s Facebook Page. No login is required. To request usage of the stream for news purposes, email media@georgetown.edu.
- PHOTOS AND B-ROLL: Photo selects and b-roll of ceremonies, speakers and on-campus “candids” can be made available upon request.
MORE INFORMATION AND LOGISTICS:
Please expect extremely limited parking on and around the Hilltop campus. There is no reserved media parking. Any live broadcast should use Live-U type “backpacks;” no satellite trucks or other news vehicles will be accommodated on campus.
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