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Commencement

Looking Back to Commencement 2021

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Full University Commencement 2021

Additional Commencement Videos

Listed below are video segments of the University Commencement celebration. To view a video click on the link below or visit the Rutgers University Commencement YouTube channel.

Thank you to those who contributed to the creation of the 2021 University Commencement celebration. View a list of those credited.

Rutgers University Commencement Program Booklet

The official 255th Anniversary Commencement program booklet is available for download.

cover of the program booklet

Graduating Students 

Congratulations Class of 2021! Graduates' names from Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences are showcased on our website for families and friends around the world to view.

2021 graduates celebating

Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients

These individuals have distinguished themselves by making major contributions to their professions and communities.

Natasha Trethewey
Commencement Speaker and Honorary Doctor of Letters

The former U.S. Poet Laureate has focused her career on examining the intersections and contentions between public and personal history, national memorialization and forgetting, and the fraught legacy of race in America. Trethewey's work has earned her a Pulitzer Prize and a spot on the New York Times best-sellers list.

Laurie Garrett
Honorary Doctor of Science

With decades of experience as a science writer, Garrett speaks with extensive knowledge of emerging diseases and epidemics and their impact on governments and societies. She is the only writer to have been awarded all “Three P’s” of journalism: The Peabody, Polk (twice), and Pulitzer.

Rush Holt
Honorary Doctor of Laws

Holt is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives where he represented New Jersey's 12th congressional district for eight terms. In Congress, Holt worked in a variety of areas including education, natural resources, civil rights and civil liberties, and science. Since leaving Congress, Holt has been active in attempting to restore evidence-based thinking to American culture and politics.

G. Willow WIlson
Honorary Doctor of Letters

Wilson is an American comics writer, prose author, essayist, and journalist. A New Jersey native, Wilson is the co-creator of the Marvel character Kamala Khan, a teenager in Jersey City, New Jersey, who took on the mantle Ms. Marvel after the previous Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, became Captain Marvel.