At Arcadia’s Commencement ceremonies, we’ll celebrate your degree completion with you and your family. Important information will be sent to you throughout the spring semester, so be sure to check your Arcadia email frequently and visit this page for updates.
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Graduate Ceremony: 5pm
In inclement weather, each ceremony will be moved indoors at their intended times. The ceremony will be called the Tuesday before the event.
Friday, May 19, 2023
Baccalaureate Ceremony: 10am
In inclement weather, commencement will be moved indoors, and students will only be permitted two tickets. The ceremony will be called the Tuesday before the event.
Regalia and Commencement day!
- If you were not able to attend Senior Knight, please plan on stopping by the campus store during regular business hours to pick up your regalia. If you were unable to place your order before the deadline, please plan to visit the campus store to purchase your regalia.
- You should check in to Grey Towers Castle no later than one hour prior to the start of your ceremony to receive your graduate card, take photos, grab a quick snack, and prepare for your moment!
- Parking will be available throughout campus.
- Overflow lots will be at Oak Summit.
- For guests needing mobility assistance, there will be designated drop offs at Blankley Hall and Boyer lot. At those lots, golf cart drivers will be waiting to transport anyone needing assistance to the ceremony site. Special end-row seating on the Commons-side of the Green will be available for those needing it.
- For guests needing audio assistance, there will be designated seating areas near an ASL interpreter. The ceremony can also be watched live-streamed with closed captioning.
- Plan to wear comfortable shoes (whether on the grass or the hard gym floor, comfortable shoes will go a long way!)
- Ceremony site opens at 90 minutes before the start of your ceremony. Your guests can find a seat and get comfortable beginning at that time.
- Ceremony tickets are ONLY needed if we are indoors.
- Remember sunscreen!
- Water will be available at no charge for graduates, guests, faculty, staff, and administration.
- Additional snacks, sodas, flowers, and keepsakes will be available for purchase.
Your Diploma
Diplomas are available to each graduate after the Commencement ceremonies for all colleges and schools. Official Arcadia frames can be found in the Campus Store. For questions or concerns regarding diplomas, contact the Office of the Registrar.
Your Cap Design
Each year, graduates are encouraged to let their creative selves shine—be it silly, sweet, or sentimental. You’ll be invited to share your design using #Arcadia2023 and to vote for our winners, who will receive Amazon gift cards.
Your Paver
Order your brick for the Alumni Walk of Pride, engraved with your name to commemorate your time at Arcadia. All bricks ordered between now and February 15 will be installed before commencement. Orders that are received after February 15, installed for Homecoming and family weekend in the fall.
Arcadia University 2023 Commencement
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Honorary Degree Recipient
Renowned astrophysicist will receive an honorary degree at the May 18 master’s and doctoral ceremony.
Nancy Glass
Commencement Speaker
CEO and executive producer of Glass Entertainment Group will address the Graduate Class of 2023 at the May 18 master’s and doctoral ceremony.
Sara M. Lomax
Honorary Degree Recipient and Commencement Speaker
Journalist and media executive will receive an honorary degree and address the Undergraduate Class of 2023 at the May 19 baccalaureate ceremony.
Faculty, Staff, and Alumni
Your time, talent, and energy is greatly appreciated as we offer our graduates a memorable and celebratory Commencement—alongside those who have meant so much to them. Faculty recognitions—including the Lloyd M. Abernethy Outstanding Service and Professor of the Year awards—are also announced at Commencement.
Contact commencement@arcadia.edu if you are interested in attending a ceremony or:
Need Regalia
Faculty and staff should plan to wear their regalia if they want to participate in the procession. Plan to arrive 15 minutes before each ceremony. There will be clear signs to gather in front of the Commons. Dress comfortably if you plan to remain for the ceremony.
Want to Volunteer
Volunteers are integral to a successful Commencement experience. You’ll receive your role and arrival time by email.
Have Honor Guard Questions
After each ceremony, graduates exit down the Walk of Pride to form a time-honored tradition: the Honor Guard. Join us to cheer on the graduates, who will leave campus in their vehicles through a drive-thru celebration led by Alumni Relations. If you’d only like to participate in the Honor Guard, plan to arrive one hour after the ceremony begins and use the Castle entrance to park in Lot A (turn left when you enter campus).
Arcadia University Honorary Degree Recipients
Past Recipients
2022 Volodymyr Zelensky (Humanities), President of Ukraine
2022 Sonia Sanchez (Humanities) Poet, activist, and scholar
2021 Pedro Rivera (Education)
2021 Dr. Danchien Lu (Mathematics)
2020 U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean (Law)
2020 John Prendergast (Humane Letters)
2019 Dr. Michael Brown (Science)
2019 Dr. Valerie Arkoosh (Laws)
2018 G. Hanks Brown, J.D. (Politics)
2018 Suneet P. Chauhan ’79, M.D. (Medicine)
2017 Julianne Mamana Boyd ’66, Ph.D. (Theater)
2017 Samuel Cameron, Ph.D. (Counseling)
2016 Gary M. Reedy (Health Sciences)
2016 Lois E. Haber ’71 (Business)
2015 Francis G. Vitetta (Architecture)
2015 Deogratias Niyizonkiza (Health Sciences)
2014 Ellen Schecter ’66 (Author, Broadcasting)
2014 Gerri Aaron (Philanthropy)
2013 Teng Huang (Education)
2013 Elaine Thompson (Health Sciences)
2013 Marcelline Krafchick (Education)
2013 Trudy Rubin (Journalism)
2012 Guido Fabiani (Education)
2012 Patricia Hill Collins (Education)
2012 Fred de Sam Lazaro (Journalism, Broadcasting)
2012 Shelly Yanoff ’62 (Social Services, Civic Affairs)
2011 Isaac Stein (Education, Philanthropy)
2011 Rosalie Swedlin Cort ’68 (Writer, Film Producer)
2011 KayWalkingStick ’59 (Artist)
2011 Harris L. Wofford (Politics, Civil Rights, Community Service)
2010 Hon. Allyson Y. Schwartz (Politics)
2010 Bernice Wenzel Jeffrey ’42 (Education)
2010 Hon. LeAnna M. Washington (Politics)
2009 Marie-Louise Vermeiren Jackson (Philanthropy)
2009 Brian Lamb (Journalism/Broadcasting)
2009 Barry Sheerman (Legislator)
2009 Zachary Stalberg (Journalism/Civic Defender)
2009 Joseph M. Torsella (Civic Affairs)
2008 Katharine M. Butterworth (Education)
2008 William B. DeLauder (Education)
2007 Harriet Mayor Fulbright (Education)
2007 Louis H. Pollak (Law)
2007 Walter Hellendall ’77 (Business)
2006 Alfred Uhry (Playwright)
2006 Rosemary Deniken Blankley ’57 (Philanthropy)
2006 Lorene Cary (Literature)
2006 Joseph L. Castle II (Business) (Posthumous)
2006 George Logue (Physical Therapy)
2005 Dr. Kenneth L. Adelman (Journalism)
2005 Jane Golden (Art)
2005 Dr. Fredric Rieders ’80 (Forensic Science)
2005 Dr. Dennis M. Wint (Science/Museum)
2004 Buntzie Ellis Churchill (Politics)
2004 Suzanne F. Roberts (Communications)
2004 Ralph J. Roberts (Communications/Business)
2004 Dr. Bette E. Landman (Education)
2003 Robert J. Hall (Communications/Business)
2003 Benjamin W. Tate (Food Service)
2003 Loretta J. Ross (Social Service)
2002 Alba E. Martinez Esq. (Law)
2002 Michael V. Schluth (Advertising)
2002 Charles M. Magistro (Physical Therapy)
2001 Jacquelyn H. Barrett ’72 (Law Enforcement)
2001 Rev. Dr. Robert Johnson-Smith Sr. (Religion/Social Service)
2001 Lowell S. Thomas, Jr. (Law)
2001 Dr. Judith Rodin (Education)
2000 Chris Matthews (Journalism)
2000 Hon. M. Susan Savage ’74 (Politics)
2000 Dr. F. William Sunderman, Sr. (Medicine)
1999 Norman R. Augustine (Medicine)
1999 Hon. K. Leroy Irvis (Politics)
1999 Marilyn Lee Steinbright (Philanthropy)
1998 Morris Dees (Law)
1998 Rudolph Staffel (Art)
1998 John Hockenberry (Journalism)
1997 Dr. Arthur L. Caplan (Medical Ethics)
1997 Dr. Norman B. Johnston (Criminology)
1996 Marilyn Sunners Cranin ’54 (Landscape Design)
1996 Cha-Keuk Charles Koo (Business)
1996 Hon. Edward G. Rendell (Politics)
1995 Dr. Siu-chi Huang (Education)
1995 William H. Siemering (Broadcasting)
1994 Catherine M. Kuch (Philanthropy)
1994 Dr. Geoffrey Marshall (Education)
1993 Anna Deavere Smith ’71 (Actor/Writer)
1993 Nelson Shanks (Art)
1993 John William Galbraith (Economics)
1993 Dr. Ellington M. Beavers (Science)
1992 James Lawrence Powell (Science)
1992 Robert W. O’Donnell (Politics)
1992 Rev. James D. O’Dell (Religion)
1992 Emma Carolyn Chappel (Finance)
1991 Dr. Marian Wright Edelman (Law)
1991 John A. Wallace (Economics)
1990 Dr. Samuel D. Proctor (Education)
1990 Dr. Derek R. Pollard (Education)
1990 Eugene W. Jackson (Publishing/Philanthropy)
1990 Dr. Houston A. Baker, Jr. (Education)
1989 Hon. Thomas H. Kean (Politics)
1989 Dr. Adeline Gordon Levine (Education)
1989 Wm. Irwin Arbuckle II (Religion)
1989 Dr. John M. Templeton, Jr. (Medicine)
1988 Dr. Bernard C. Watson (Education)
1988 David Eisenhower (Author)
1988 Dr. Dorothy I. MacConkey ’47 (Education)
1987 Hon. Nochem S. Winnet (Law)
1987 Hon. A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. (Law)
1986 Margaret E. Kuhn (Social Activism)
1985 Margaret E. Mahoney (Health Sciences)
1985 Dr. John W. Chandler (Education)
1984 Ellen Goodman (Journalism)
1984 Helen Bohen O’Bannon (Economics)
1983 Hilton Kramer (Education)
1983 Harriet W. Sheridan (Education)
1983 Dr. William D. Gates (Education)
1982 Dr. Donald D. Hammill (Education)
1982 Marjorie Darling (Education)
1982 Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow (Science)
1982 Dr. Paul R. Cutright (Science)
1981 Ernest L. Boyer (Education)
1981 William G. Rusch (Business)
1981 Raymond A. Geiger (Publishing)
1981 Elsie Siratz McGarvey (Art)
1981 Barrows Dunham (Philosophy)
1980 Rowland Evans, Jr. (Journalism)
1980 Edward B. Fiske (Journalism)
1979 John A. Mitchell (Education)
1979 Mark Herbert Curtis (Education)
1979 Dr. Robert MacNeil (Journalism)
1979 Dr. William E. Strasburg (Journalism)
1979 Dr. Harold I. Leviton (Business)
1979 Margaret F. LeClair (Education)
1977 Dr. Martha Peterson (Education)
1976 Dr. Robert L. Swaim (Education)
1976 Dr. John Canaday (Art)
1975 Dr. George H. Gallup (Market Research)
1975 Dr. Robert E. Page (Music)
1975 Mary Clayton Earle (Philanthropy)
1974 Dr. Victor Zelov (Business)
1974 Dr. Edmund Ashbury Gullion (Law)
1974 Charles E. Bertrand (Business)
1973 Lucy Jarvis (Broadcasting)
1973 Dr. Gregory Halpern (Business)
1973 Dr. Lorin Maazel (Music)
1973 Dr. R. Buckminster Fuller (Science)
1973 Shirley Isacowitz Leviton ’41 (Philanthropy)
1973 Dr. Annie E. Robinson (Civic Leader)
1972 Dr. J. Arthur Campbell (Education)
1972 Dr. F. Melissa Plummer (Education)
1972 Hon. George H.W. Bush (Politics)
1971 John V. Calhoun, Sr. (Business)
1971 Dr. Frederic W. Ness (Education)
1971 Harold Weill (Law)
1971 Dr. Arthur Charles Clarke (Literature/Science)
1971 Mrs. Margaret Oldroyd ’38 (Literature)
1970 Dr. Ruth Patrick (Science)
1970 Dr. Hubert N. Alyea (Science)
1969 Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (Politics)
1969 Dr. Morris Duane (Law)
1969 Dr. Eleanor Jane Carlin ’40 (Education)
1968 Ambassador Patricia Roberts Harris (Politics)
1968 Dr. Lawrence R. Thompson (Education)
1967 Dr. William B. Walsh (Medicine)
1967 Dr. Katherine Boucot Sturgis (Medicine)
1967 Rev. Kenneth A. Hammonds (Religion)
1967 Rev. Leon H. Sullivan (Religion)
1966 Lessing J. Rosenwald (Art)
1966 Dr. Roscoe Drummond (Journalism)
1965 Harry George Kuch (Philanthropy)
1965 John Mark Templeton (Philanthropy)
1965 The Lord Caradon (Politics)
1964 Marian Angell Boyer (Philanthropy)
1964 Sivert Andreas Nielson (International Politics)
1963 Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan (International Politics)
1963 Dr. John R. Coleman (Education)
1963 Mary Crapo Hyde (Literature)
1963 Harold W. Scott (Business)
1963 John W. Cornell, Jr. (Philanthropy)
1963 Helen P. Rush (Education)
1963 Hon. William W. Scranton (Politics)
1962 Pauline Frederick (Journalism)
1962 George Ruck (Philanthropy)
1962 Margaret Purner Jenkins ’14 (Education)
1961 Gen. Carlos P. Romulo (International Politics)
1961 Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (Politics)
1961 Eugenia Fuller Atwood (Philanthropy)
1959 Dr. David H. Jones (Music)
1959 Rev. Frank H. Stroup (Religion)
1959 Chalmer G. Kirkbride (Science)
1958 Rae Vickers Biester (Philanthropy)
1958 Oliver G. Willits (Business)
1957 Dr. Marion Fay (Education)
1957 Catherine Drinker Bowen (Literature)
1957 Dr. Alton H. Glasure (Religion)
1957 Florence Benedict (Business)
1957 Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. (Business)
1956 Dr. William J. Wiseman (Philanthropy)
1956 Hon. Edward H. Griffiths (Law)
1955 Dr. Allen H. Wetter (Education)
1955 Richard C. Bond (Business)
1954 Dr. Herbert P. Lansdale, Jr. (Business)
1954 Harold W. Butler (Business)
1954 Rev. Dean N. Dobson, Jr. (Religion)
1954 Rev. Theodore C. Meek (Religion)
1953 Dr. Karl G. Miller (Education)
1953 Thomas B. McCabe (Business)
1953 Helen D. Bragdon (Education)
1953 Ruth Leach (Business)
1953 Dr. Katherine E. McBride (Education)
1953 Ruth L. Higgins (Education)
1953 Mildred Roe (Education)
1953 Ada Haeseler Lewis (Education)
1953 Rev. Robert N. Peirce (Education)
1953 Bertha C. Peirce (Education)
1953 Charles E. Wilson (Business)
1953 Lewis M. Stevens (Law)
1953 Henri G. Marceau (Arts)
1953 Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower (Education)
1953 Rev. Stanley K. Gambell (Religion)
1952 Dr. Ernest N. Feind (Religion)
1952 Dr. Archibald Campbell (Religion)
1952 Dr. Herman N. Morse (Religion)
1952 John D. Duff (Philanthropy)
1952 Dr. Eugene Carson Blake (Religion)
1951 Paul Comly French (Business)
1951 Dr. Arthur M. Adams (Religion)
1951 Theodore McKeldin (Politics)
1950 Dr. George S. Young (Religion)
1950 Mildred McAfee Horton (Education)
1950 Hon. Percy T. Smith (Politics)
1950 Dr. Carl E. Seifert (Education)
1950 Dr. John T. Galloway (Religion)
1949 Dr. George T. Peters (Religion)
1949 Edward Warwick (Education)
1949 Dorothy Kenyon (Law)
1949 Louise Bush-Brown (Education)
1949 Dr. Bryant M. Kirkland (Religion)
1948 Dr. John M. Kelly (Music/Religion)
1948 George P. Orr (Law)
1948 Dr. Louise Pearce (Medicine)
1948 Ellsworth A. Roberts (Business)
1947 Alfred E. Driscoll (Politics)
1947 Harriet D. Phillips (Civic Leader)
1947 Dr. Althea K. Hottel (Education)
1947 Margaret T. Corwin (Education)
1946 Charity Scott Martin (Civic Lader)
1946 Hon. Edward Martin (Politics)
1946 Hon. James H. Duff (Politics)
1944 Vira I. Heinz (Philanthropy)
1942 Georgiana Farr Sibley (Philanthropy)
1942 Dr. William F. Wefer (Education)
1942 Anna Kennedy Eaton (Science)
1939 Adm. Richard E. Byrd (Explorer)
1939 Dr. Alexander J. Stoddard (Education)
1939 Dr. Morgan H. Thomas (Business)
1939 Ruth R. Nichols (Aviation)
1938 Dr. James E. Mooney (Journalism)
1938 Dr. Lester K. Ade (Education)
1938 Dr. Paul M. McKee (Religion)
1938 Dr. Joseph Albert McCartney (Religion)
1938 Dr. Edward S. Mooney, Jr. (Education)
1938 Dr. Rex Wheeler (Education)
1938 Hon. James R. Irwin (Law)
1937 Rose Ingraham Marsh (Philanthropy)
1937 Dr. John Muyskens (Religion)
1937 Mrs. H. Childs Hodgens (Philanthropy)
1937 Rev. Dr. Raymond Kistler (Religion/Education)
1937 Dr. Ralph F. Perry (Education)
1936 Rev. Dr. Roland Lutz (Religion)
1936 James F. Shrader (Law)
1936 Theresa W. Paist (Philanthropy)
1936 Paul Cornell (Business)
1936 Mary Dabney Thomas (Education)
1936 Sir Joseph Flavelle (Business)
1935 Alexander Thomson (Medicine)
1935 J. Leonard Mason (Education)
1935 Benton Spruance (Education)
1934 Dr. Walter E. Jordan (Religion)
1934 Dr. Joseph E. Curry (Religion)
1934 Dr. Robert R. Littell (Religion)
1934 Dr. H. Lewis Cutler (Religion)
1934 Rev. Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo (Religion)
1934 William E. Biederwolf (Religion)
1933 Editha Carpenter Trevorrow (Education)
1933 Rev. Dr. Burleigh Cruikshank (Religion)
1933 Allan Sutherland (Philanthropy)
1933 Dr. C. Waldo Cherry (Religion)
