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Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ of California’s spring 2024 undergraduate and graduate commencement ceremony will be held May 11 on the Forest Meadows field. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m.

More than 300 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students are expected to participate in commencement this spring. Dominican also holds a fall commencement ceremony in early December.

Rebecca Solnit, a writer, cultural critic, and activist, will deliver the commencement address. A product of the California public education system, and born and raised in the Bay Area, Solnit has published more than 20 bestselling books. She is also a regular contributor to The Guardian and has been published in Harper's Magazine.

Solnit’s books and essays on feminism and women's rights, western and urban history, popular power, social change, wandering and walking, and the climate crisis are numerous and award-winning. Her books include "Hope in the Dark," "Orwell's Roses," "Recollections of My Nonexistence," and "Men Explain Things to Me." An essay Solnit published in 2008 inspired the widely used term "mansplaining." Currently, Solnit serves on the board of the climate group Oil Change International, and she recently launched the climate project Not Too Late. 

Check-in for the graduates is from 8-9 a.m. in the Conlan Recreation Center. The commencement procession leaves Conlan at 9:30 a.m.

The commencement venue opens to ticketed guests at 8:30 a.m., and we suggest guests arrive prior to 9:30 a.m. The ceremony will be held outdoors, so guests should plan accordingly for hot or inclement weather.

Parking is limited, and we encourage guests to carpool or take public transportation. If driving to campus, we recommend budgeting ample time for parking. The Conlan Recreation Center lot is closest to the ceremony site, but it will fill up early. Graduating students should park along Magnolia (near Magnolia House and Caleruega) or in the residence hall lots at Edgehill Village and Fanjeaux Hall so that guests arriving separately can use the Conlan parking lot. We discourage guests from parking in the immediate residential area as a courtesy to our neighbors. 

More information about spring commencement 2024, including information about tickets, can be found on the commencement page.