The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will celebrate its more than 6,000 graduates this weekend during the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on May 13 and Spring Commencement on May 14.
Nearly 300 of Carolina’s doctoral candidates will be recognized at the hooding ceremony at 9:30 a.m at the Dean E. Smith Center. Graduate students who earned their Ph.D.’s in the past academic year will have the hood of their Commencement regalia conferred by their advisors or dissertation committee chairs.
Richard Lenski, a UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus and biologist who has tracked the evolution for more than 65,000 generations of E. coli bacteria, will deliver the keynote speech. Lenski was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his pioneering work studying what he calls “evolution in action.”
Chancellor Carol L. Folt will preside over Spring Commencement the following day at 9 a.m. in Kenan Stadium.
Brooke Baldwin, a Carolina alumna and CNN news anchor, will deliver the Commencement address. The ceremony will also be livestreamed at UNC.edu.
Weather: If severe weather is expected Commencement morning, the University may postpone the ceremony to allow for the threat to pass. Check unc.edu and commencement.unc.edu and/or local television and radio stations. If there are weather-related delays, the latest possible start time for Commencement would be 11 a.m. Carolina also offers text alerts to all Commencement attendees if the main ceremony has been delayed or canceled due to weather or any unexpected circumstances. Sign up at http://commencement.unc.edu/spring/index.php.
- If it rains during Commencement, the Chancellor and organizers may shorten the ceremony, but it will not be relocated.
- If severe weather threatens while the ceremony is in progress and attendees’ safety is at risk the ceremony would be canceled and guests will be advised to seek shelter. The ceremony would not resume.
- Umbrellas will be permitted, but guests should use caution when opening umbrellas and be mindful of those seated around them.
Parking: For a map of parking, click here.
More information:
- For graduates
- For parents
- For faculty
