To honor and celebrate our graduating students, SC&I will host its annual graduation convocation ceremony on Thursday, May 15, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Jersey Mike’s Arena (formerly the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC)) on the Rutgers Livingston campus. Nearly 4,000 guests, including 1,131 students and their families and friends, are expected to attend.

This year, for the first time, SC&I graduation will be ticketed. Ticket registration for SC&I students and their guests is available here.

This year, 919 undergraduates will earn bachelor’s degrees in one of the three SC&I majors: Communication; Information Technology and Informatics; or Journalism and Media Studies. SC&I undergraduate students can also minor in Digital Communication, Information, and Media (DCIM) and Gender and Media. 

A total of 199 master’s students will earn one of three degrees: the Master of Communication and Media (MCM); the Master of Health Communication and Information (MHCI); or the Master of Information (MI). Additionally,13 students will earn Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Communication, Information, and Media.

The ceremony will begin with a Class of 2025 processional, led by SC&I Associate Dean for Student Services Kevin Ewell, who will carry the gonfalon.

Once the graduates are seated, the Rutgers group Shockwave will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Rutgers alma mater song “On the Banks of the Old Raritan,” which was written in 1873 by Howard Newton Fuller, class of 1874.

Dean for Administration Karen Hundert Novick will welcome the graduates and their families, followed by Interim Dean Dafna Lemish who will deliver a special message to the graduates. 

After Dean Lemish’s remarks, Marty Siederer, President of the SC&I Alumni Association,  will deliver the SC&I Alumni Association presentation. As all SC&I graduates are automatically enrolled in the alumni association upon graduation, they will immediately benefit from networking opportunities, events, and other resources.

Following Siederer, Natalie Civadelic JMS’25, class speaker for the undergraduate Class of 2025, will address the audience.

Following her presentation, the students will begin to approach the stage to receive their degrees, starting with the Ph.D. students, whose degrees will be conferred by Professor of Journalism and Media Studies and Director of the SC&I Doctoral Program Melissa Aronczyk. 

SC&I Convocation is held annually in conjunction with the University’s graduation ceremony. This year, the 259th Anniversary Commencement at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Rutgers Health will be held on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, starting at 10 a.m. Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway will preside over the ceremony, conferring degrees to graduates and honorary recipients.

Learn more about the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.