True to the way they have lived much of the past year, the Class of 2021 will celebrate Fordham’s 176th Commencement with a mix of in-person and virtual festivities.
Main Ceremony Videocast
Fordham will host a videocast of the main University Commencement ceremony, which will debut on the Commencement website on Saturday, May 22, at 10 a.m. EDT. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, will officially confer degrees upon Fordham’s roughly 5,500 graduates during the ceremony, which will also feature remarks from the 2021 Commencement speaker, Admiral Michelle Howard.
In-Person Diploma Ceremonies
Graduates of all of Fordham’s undergraduate colleges and several graduate schools will have the opportunity to receive their diplomas in person at 11 ceremonies held over the course of seven days on the Rose Hill campus (schedule below). Thanks to recently revised New York state guidelines, these in-person school ceremonies now allow for 1,000 attendees. Each graduate will be allowed to bring two guests.
Virtual Diploma Ceremonies
Each school will also hold a virtual diploma ceremony in which each student will be individually recognized with a slide that they were invited to customize. These virtual ceremonies will be available on the Commencement website.
All are encouraged to visit the Commencement website for more details, including arrival times, safety protocols, and links for information on each school’s ceremony. The site also features a Commencement toolkit with Zoom backgrounds, Instagram filters, and more.
By the Numbers
Fordham will confer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees upon 3,539 May graduates. Including students who graduated in August 2020 and February 2021, the University will confer about 5,479 academic degrees in all.
Below are the numbers of May 2021 degree recipients from each school.
Fordham College at Rose Hill: 836
Fordham at Lincoln Center: 365
Gabelli School of Business (graduate): 270
Gabelli School of Business (undergraduate): 603
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: 136
Graduate School of Education: 177
Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education: 33
Graduate School of Social Service: 588
School of Law: 446
School of Professional and Continuing Studies (undergrad): 75
School of Professional and Continuing Studies (graduate): 10
There are 70 veterans graduating in the May 2021 class.
Commencement 2021 In-Person Ceremonies
Monday, May 17
9 – 11 a.m. | Fordham College at Rose Hill #1
2 – 4 p.m. | Fordham College at Lincoln Center #1
Tuesday, May 18
9 – 11 a.m. | Gabelli School of Business #1
2 – 4 p.m. | Fordham College at Lincoln Center #2
Wednesday, May 19
9 – 11 a.m. | Fordham College at Rose Hill #2
2 – 4 p.m. | Gabelli School of Business #2
Thursday, May 20
9 – 11 a.m. | Fordham College at Rose Hill #3
Sunday, May 23
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. | School of Professional and Continuing Studies
3 – 5 p.m. | Graduate School of Education
Monday, May 24
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. | School of Law
Tuesday, May 25
4 – 6 p.m. | Gabelli School of Business (graduate)
Please note: The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduation School of Religion and Religious Education, and the Graduate School of Social Service have decided to host virtual-only ceremonies for the Class of 2021.
Due to social distancing limitations, space at each ceremony is limited, with most space allocated for our graduates and their guests. In addition, there are certain procedures that must be followed by all attendees. If faculty members are interested in attending a specific ceremony, they should contact their dean’s office.
