Celebrating the Class of 2025

The Weitzman Graduation Ceremony will be held the evening of Saturday, May 17, 2025 on Penn's campus:

• 4:30pm: Light Reception at Meyerson Hall for graduates, their families/guests, faculty and staff
• 5:15pm (approx): Doors open for guests at Irvine Auditorium
• 5:30pm: Graduates lineup for academic procession at Meyerson Hall, B-1
• 6:00pm: Ceremony begins*

This ceremony is for Weitzman students who will complete their degree requirements in May 2025, completed the degree requirements in August 2024 or December 2024, or are expected to earn the MSD-AAD degree in August 2025.

*Only the names of graduates in attendance will be read at the ceremony in Irvine.

All guests (with the exception of children under one year old) need a ticket to attend the Weitzman Commencement Ceremony in Irvine Auditorium. Guests do not need a ticket to attend the University Commencement Ceremony on Franklin Field. Graduates do not need a ticket for themselves at either ceremony.

Only the graduating student can request guest tickets through their Penn email address; guests may not request tickets for themselves. August 2024, December 2024, expected May 2025 graduates, and expected MSD-AAD August 2025 graduates will be sent ticket information in early spring 2025.

Family and friends who do not have a ticket but will be on campus may watch the broadcast of the ceremony that will be live-streamed in the overflow room. Seating in the overflow room is available on a first-come, first-served basis; there are no tickets for overflow seating.

The Weitzman Commencement ceremony will be live streamed on the Weitzman School YouTube channel. 

The University of Pennsylvania Commencement Ceremony will be held the morning of Monday, May 19th on Franklin Field for August 2024, December 2025, and May 2025 graduates.

Disability seating tickets for the University ceremony need to be requested separately from ticket requests for the Weitzman Ceremony.

Information for graduates and guests can be found on the University's Commencement website.

Academic Regalia is required for participation in the Weitzman and University ceremonies.

Masters students purchase souvenir regalia; doctoral students can rent or purchase their regalia. Graduating students may purchase/order their academic regalia (cap and gown) in two ways:

1. At the Penn Bookstore during the Graduation Fair (March 19-21, 2025) or afterward. Please note that regalia options may be limited if purchasing after March 21st.
2. Order online by March 29th to have regalia shipped directly to the graduate. Please note that hood colors for non-Weitzman degrees are not accessible through this link. Other students should refer to their home school for regalia information.

Hood colors vary by degree program:

• Dark Blue: Ph.D. Architecture and Ph.D. City and Regional Planning
• Golden Yellow: Master of Science in Architecture, Master of Science in Design and Master of Science in Historic Preservation
• Brown: Master of Architecture, Master of City and Regional Planning, Master of Environmental Building Design, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Landscape Architecture, and Master of Urban Spatial Analytics.

There will be a professional photographer at the Weitzman Commencement Ceremony, and each graduate will be photographed when they are on stage. Photos will be available for viewing and downloading on the Weitzman Flickr at the end of May. Graduates will be notified via email to their Penn Outlook account when they are available. 

Students who need a letter for international guests can download a template from ISSS and request an enrollment verification letter from Weitzman Student Services by contacting des-studentservices@design.upenn.edu.

There are separate processes for reserving wheelchair seating at the Weitzman Graduation and University Commencement ceremonies:

• Instructions for requesting accessible seating at the University Commencement ceremony on Franklin Field are available here.
• Instructions for requesting wheelchair seating and other disability accommodations at the Weitzman Graduation Ceremony will be sent to students in spring 2025.

Presented annually, the Weitzman Year End Show brings together work by graduating students across the School to capture new directions in architecture, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, historic preservation, and the fine arts. For 2025, the School will mount an in-person exhibition at Meyerson Hall that will be on view from Saturday, May 17 through June 13. (Except for May 17, visiting hours are Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm.) A companion website, which will go live on Friday, May 23, offers a deep dive into the individual agendas of emerging designers, planners, preservationists, and historians, with statements of intent from participating graduates and links to their professional websites. Individual thesis projects in architecture, planning, and preservation are presented alongside collaborative studio-based works.

Review the Weitzman graduation policies and procedures here.