This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A sea of violet robes flooded Yankee Stadium on Thursday morning as nearly 30,000 graduates and guests entered the arena in celebration of NYU’s class of 2025, amid what President Linda Mills called “times of intense change” in the wake of a federal crackdown on higher education.
The May 15 ceremony opened with a mashup performance of “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift’s “Welcome to New York” from Tisch and Steinhardt students and was followed by a procession led by Tandon professor and faculty senate chair Ryan Hartman and deans from each of NYU’s 19 schools carry banners across the field.
After the processions, Provost Georgina Dopico — who just finished her first year officially in the position — gave an opening pronouncement, officially convening the ceremony. Evan Chesler, chair of NYU’s board of trustees, gave an ode to his time as a student at the College of Arts & Science and later the School of Law.
“At NYU, I learned how to think critically, ask important questions, and how to be open to a greater understanding of people and the world,” Chelser said. “Now, class of 2025 — it’s your turn.”
After a formal tribute to the class of 2025, student speaker Deziree Joy Harmon, from NYU’s Shanghai campus, addressed the crowd. Harmon recounted her time at NYU Shanghai and experience traveling across the world for college.
“After everything it took to get here, we made it,” Harmon said. “Being here at NYU means becoming equipped to build bridges between friends, communities, ideas, conflicts, countries — bridge building is another kind of figuring it out.”
As Mills began to present this year’s honorary degree recipients with their diplomas, graduates in the crowd booed and several started to walk out of the arena. At last year’s ceremony, dozens of students wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags booed and walked out as Mills gave her commencement address, demanding that NYU divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel.
SPS professor and assistant dean of real world David Hollander introduced and presented New York Liberty CEO Keia Clarke with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Hollander commended Clarke for “promoting the expansion” of the WNBA’s brand and “taking women’s basketball to new heights.”
Tandon executive vice president presented physicist Walter Massey with an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Mills applauded him for making “such an indelible imprint on so many facets of society.”
Tisch professor John Tintori presented former “Saturday Night Live” star Molly Shannon, also this year’s commencement speaker, with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Mills praised her for lifting “our spirits across amicable performances,” and called Shannon a “fearless, spell-binding performer.”
Shannon, who graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts in 1987, congratulated graduates before giving advice on how to deal with failure, using Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey and Stephen King as examples of unlikely success stories. She said that after graduating from Tisch, she was rejected from auditions and described her journey as a receptionist for a video dating service, selling office supplies, a Nordstrom fragrance model and a waitress.
“If you’re able to simply try to make a dream real, not only are you lucky, but you’re already a success,” Shannon said. “Allow yourself some happiness along the way — not just when you reach your goal. Enjoy the experience of creating yourself.”
Shannon advised students to “embrace who you are” and “approve yourself,” describing how she created her breakout character and organized her live shows while struggling to find work through auditions. She recounted her time auditioning for SNL, where she was initially rejected, and the start of her six-year run on the NBC show.
Mills proceeded to take the stage, and was met with more booing and student walkouts. In her commencement address, Mills’ speech focused on a research-oriented review of happiness, saying that its “best predictor” is “having close relationships.” Mills called persistent loneliness “very serious business,” and said that it can have the same health effects of “smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
“Here at NYU, you discovered your found family — those who support you and lift you up in return,” Mills said. “Your graduation today marks not the end of these relationships. Instead, it’s your first true test of them.
Deans from each school then conferred degrees and advanced certificates to candidates of respective schools. To complete the commencement, Former President John Sexton, a professor at the School of Law, passed the torch to the youngest baccalaureate degree candidate, 18-year-old CAS graduate Leo Vu. Mills then congratulated all the graduates in the crowd as confetti fell across the stadium.
On-campus tensions have continued over this past year, with massive cuts to federal research funding, what many have called unprecedented threats to international students and placement on at least two lists of schools targeted by President Donald Trump. Mills has also faced backlash for her response to an onslaught of on-campus protests against Israel’s ongoing siege in Gaza over the past year, including dozens of student suspensions and multiple faculty arrests at pro-Palestinian encampments.
Update, May 15, 12:50 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional events from 2025’s commencement exercises.
Contact Aashna Miharia, Amanda Chen, Dharma Niles and Yezen Saadah at [email protected].
