Congratulations
to the Class of 2025!

We are delighted to announce that Commencement ("graduation") will take place this year at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan. It is a beautiful venue and a perfect setting to celebrate this important milestone in our students’ lives. 

Thursday, June 12
Radio City Music Hall
1260 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) 
Between W. 50th and W. 51st Streets 
New York, NY 10020 

Directions to Radio City Music Hall are available here. 

Students will be required to complete a registration form if they plan to walk at graduation. The form will be released in February. Keep an eye on your Monroe email for the announcement.

Students who completed their studies in the Fall 2024 or Winter 2025 semester, as well as those who will do so in the Spring 2025 semester will participate at Commencement on June 12th.

Our "August Grads" -- those completing their degree requirements during the Spring semester -- will walk at Commencement and hear their name called just like the other grads. Understandably, they will not receive their diploma nor have program completion reflected on their transcript until all degree requirements are met. (See below for more information about diplomas.)

Those finishing their studies in the Fall 2025 semester will participate in next year's Commencement (June 2026).

Our St. Lucia campus graduates will be celebrated at a separate Commencement there in October. 

Graduates participating in Commencement are required to wear a cap and gown (and hood, if appropriate) purchased through our vendor, Oak Hall. The online portal to purchase it will open in February.

All graduates and guests wishing to attend Commencement are required by Radio City Music Hall to have a ticket. This includes children aged two and above. Unfortunately, we cannot issue any exemptions to that requirement. 

Babies and toddlers under two years old do not need a ticket, but they are required to stay on a guest's lap if they don't have one.

We do not know yet how many guest tickets each graduate will receive.  That announcement will be made in early May, once the size of the graduating class is finalized.

The tickets will be electronic ones (not paper) and there is no cost to you for them. We will explain in late May how the ticketing will work. 

There will be two separate ceremonies held on June 12th to accommodate our sizable graduating class and graduates’ guests. One will be held at 10:00 am and the other at 3:00 pm.  

Graduates are assigned to attend a specific ceremony. The assignments will be announced in May. 

Undergraduate students (those earning an Associate or Bachelor's degree) are assigned to a ceremony according to the academic school that coincides with their major. (For example, all undergraduate majors within the School of Criminal and Social Justice will walk together at a specific ceremony).

Graduate students (those affiliated with King Graduate School) will all walk together regardless of their major. 

We do not distribute diplomas at Commencement. Instead, they you will receive a diploma cover, which looks terrific in the photos taken on stage. 

The actual diploma will be mailed out to graduates approximately two months after their final semester. The extra time is needed to confirm the credentials and print those beautiful documents.

There will not be a rehearsal prior to Commencement.

Don't worry -- we will let you know where to go and what to do on your big day! You'll be absolutely fine without a practice run. 

As part of our annual Commencement tradition, we begin each ceremony with a Parade of Flags representing the heritage and roots of the students in our graduating class.

The flag-bearers for each country are determined by lottery. Students interested in carrying a flag will need to complete a form, which we will open in April.

Two students will be randomly chosen among those who enter this lottery to carry each country’s flag -- one in the morning ceremony and one in the afternoon ceremony. 

FYI: The U.S. flag is traditionally carried by a student-veteran.

President Jerome will be giving a “shout out” during his Commencement remarks to family members graduating together from Monroe. 

If you are graduating with your husband, wife, father, brother, sister, grandmother, uncle, cousin – or anyone in your family – and want to be included, please email graduation@monroecollege.edu with the following information:

- Your names
- Your relationship to each other
- Degree types and majors

For example:

- Mary Frank and Rhonda Wright (cousins)
- Mary (Bachelor’s in Human Services)
- Rhonda (Associates in Criminal Justice)

We do not have any plans at this time for formal portrait sittings on campus. 

However, there will be an opportunity to pose for a photo at Radio City Music Hall and as part of Student Activities’ graduation-related programming later this spring. Details will be announced later this spring. 

Keep watching your University email for updates!

In keeping with our Commencement tradition, classes will not be held on Thursday, June 12th. 

University offices remain open.

A class ring is a wonderful way to remember your time at Monroe.

Balfour is our official class ring jeweler and they have some lovely designs to fit nearly any taste and budget. 

A Balfour representative will be on the New Rochelle and Bronx campuses this semester to speak with students interested in purchasing a class ring. 

Bronx campus:  
March 5th  --  2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
March 6th -- 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

New Rochelle campus:
March 6th -- Noon to 6:00 pm

Class rings are also available for purchase online here. When asked for our college representative's number, please specify 1528.

Please feel free to reach out to Bonnie Shapiro, our Balfour representative, directly at bonnie.shapiro@balfour.com with any questions about the class rings or to order one.