President Meehan’s message to the new graduates of UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, and UMass Chan Medical School: “We believe in you. We are counting on you.”
BOSTON – The լ will honor its graduates over the next month during commencement celebrations that begin this week at UMass Dartmouth and UMass Lowell, and followed by commencements at UMass Boston, UMass Amherst and UMass Chan Medical School.
Nearly 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students will receive UMass diplomas this year. More than 80 percent of UMass undergraduates are Massachusetts residents as of Fall 2022. Of the half million-plus UMass alumni worldwide, more than 330,000 continue to live in the Commonwealth.
In a released today on social media, UMass President Marty Meehan congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to pursue their aspirations to work for a better world and a brighter future for their communities.
“When you’re fighting for justice, for the planet, for human rights, don’t take no for an answer,” President Meehan, a UMass graduate himself (UMass Lowell ’78), urged the UMass Class of 2023. “My wish for you is that UMass changes your life as profoundly as it has changed mine over the last half century…We believe in you and we are counting on you.”
UMass Commencement Details
UMass Dartmouth – May 11-12
On Thursday, May 11, UMass Dartmouth will hold two commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2023. The first ceremony will feature undergraduate and graduate students from the School for Marine Science & Technology, College of Engineering, and Charlton College of Business. The afternoon ceremony will celebrate all doctoral students. On Friday, May 12, the university will confer degrees on undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Visual & Performing Arts, College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and the College of Arts & Sciences. All undergraduate and graduate ceremonies will take place at Cressy Field on the Main Campus and will be livestreamed. The UMass Law School commencement will be held on May 12 in the main campus Auditorium. There are an estimated 1,800 members of the UMass Dartmouth Class of 2023. For UMass Dartmouth Commencement highlights, visit
UMass Lowell – May 12-13
UMass Lowell will honor its nearly 4,750-member Class of 2023 during Commencement Ceremonies at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. The university will host a morning ceremony for doctoral and master’s recipients on May 12. Two ceremonies will be held on May 13 to celebrate this year’s undergraduates, featuring Commencement addresses and other honors: a morning ceremony for the Francis College of Engineering, the Kennedy College of Sciences, and the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, followed by an afternoon commencement for the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Manning School of Business. 2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Tawakkol Karman and Imari Paris Jeffries, President/CEO of Embrace Boston and a UMass Trustee, will address undergraduate students. Visit for more details.
UMass Boston – May 24-25
UMass Boston will honor its nearly 3,650-member Class of 2023 in three commencement celebrations on its harborside campus for the first time since May 2019. Graduation will be held Wednesday, May 24, in the Ballroom, for doctoral candidates; Wednesday, May 24, on the Campus Center Lawn, for graduate degree candidates; and Thursday, May 25, on the Campus Center Lawn, for undergraduate degree candidates. These celebrations include December 2022, May 2023 and August 2023 candidates. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and business leader, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Rob Hale will deliver keynote addresses at the university’s 55th commencement ceremony on May 25. For more information, visit
UMass Amherst – May 26
UMass Amherst will host a combined undergraduate and graduate ceremony to celebrate the entire Class of 2023 on Friday, May 26 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Legendary hall of fame soccer star and UMass Amherst alumna Briana Scurry, a trailblazer for African American women in sports, will present the keynote address to approximately 9,500 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students. In addition, graduates will also be honored at a variety of special events. For more information, visit
UMass Chan Medical School – June 4
The UMass Chan Medical School will celebrate the Classes of 2023 from the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at its 50th Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, June 4. More than 250 graduates are expected to receive degrees. Katie Couric, award-winning journalist and passionate advocate and fundraiser for cancer research and care, will deliver the Commencement address. The ceremony will be held on the campus green in front of the Lazare Research Building beginning at noon, rain or shine. It will also be livestreamed on UMass Chan’s YouTube and Facebook pages. For more information, visit