05/12/2021
By Patricia McCafferty

Due to pandemic restrictions, the university will be hosting seven ceremonies over three days to acknowledge and celebrate our nearly 4,600 members of the Class of 2021. Members of the UMass Lowell campus community are invited to watch online and there are a limited number of seats available for each college ceremony.

The doctoral ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 12 at 1 p.m. Candidates will be hooded in a small, in-person ceremony at the Tsongas Center, which will be streamed live on uml.edu/commencement and Facebook Live. Distinguished University Professor William Moylan will give the commencement address. Dean Larry Siegel will receive the Chancellor’s Medal for Outstanding Support. Only faculty hooding candidates are invited to the doctoral ceremony.

Undergraduate and master’s graduates will be honored by college. If you would like to attend an in-person ceremony to watch graduates accept their diploma covers, RSVP online. This is first come, first serve to the 75 respondents for each ceremony. Masks and social distancing are required.

Kicking off the hour-long ceremonies is an opening montage featuring the Class of 2021 and the National Anthem performed by Andrew Marshall, a music business graduate and contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.” The student Commencement address will be delivered by Jamie Smorczewski, a U.S. Army veteran who is graduating with a master’s degree in security studies. Immediately following will be the procession of graduates receiving their diploma covers.

Ceremonies on Thursday, May 13 will include graduates from the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, the Kennedy College of Sciences, the Francis College of Engineering and intercampus programs. CNBC Analyst Ron Insana will be awarded an honorary degree and will give the commencement address. Alumni representatives from Market Basket will receive the Chancellor’s Medal for Public Service and Civic Engagement.

On Friday, May 14, graduates of the Manning School of Business, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Education will be recognized. Deepak Chopra, M.D., will be receiving an honorary degree and delivering the commencement address. Alumna and U.S. Paralympian Noelle Lambert ’19 will also address graduates.

The complete schedule and link to watch live can be found at uml.edu/commencement. Alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students are encouraged to share messages of congratulations on social media using #UML2021.