Commencement 2013

Welcome to The Catholic University of America’s Commencement Web site. These pages provide a basic overview of Commencement Exercises and weekend activities. There is also information about ordering caps and gowns, answers to frequently asked questions and links to other helpful sites.

Metrorail Notice
As you make your plans for Commencement weekend, please be advised that work on Metrorail's Red, Orange, and Green lines may impact getting to and from campus. If you plan to utilize Metrorail this weekend, please visit the Metro website for more information.

2013 Commencement Events 

 If you still need to order your announcements, regalia, etc., the best thing to do is visit the Herff Jones website, which will take you where you need to go!
 
 Honors Convocation for Undergraduates: 
Friday, May 17, 2013, 1 p.m. 

 Baccalaureate Mass: 
Friday, May 17, 2013, 4 p.m.
(Including information about participating in the Commencement Choir)
 
President's Reception: 
Friday, May 17, 2013, Immediately following Baccalaureate Mass

Alumni Parent Champagne Breakfast:
Saturday, May 18, 2013, 8 a.m.

Commencement Exercises: 
Saturday, May 18, 2013, 10 a.m.  

Diploma Distribution: 
Saturday, May 18, 2013, various times and locations

2013 Commencement Speaker

Dana Gioia, acclaimed poet and successful champion of public funding for the arts and arts education, will address the Class of 2013 at the 124th Annual Commencement Ceremony.

In 2003, Gioia was unanimously elected by the U.S. Senate to chair the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).  He attracted enthusiastic bipartisan support for the previously embattled agency, creating the largest public programs in NEA history, with an emphasis on reaching underserved communities.  So successful was Gioia that Business Week magazine dubbed him "The Man Who Saved the NEA."

An influential poet and critic, and trained musician, Gioia is the author of four full-length collections of poetry.  One of them, Interrogations at Noon, won the 2002 American Book Award.  A critic who reviewed that volume called Gioia "probably the most exquisite poet writing today in English."

Gioia received a B.A. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and an M.A. in comparative literature from Harvard University.  After he earned his M.B.A., Gioia embarked on a career with General Foods, eventually becoming a vice president.

Gioia currently is the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California.

 What's Next?

• CUA Alumni
• CUA Career Services
• CUA Graduate Schools