Buffalo State College will confer degrees on roughly 1,650 undergraduate and 700 graduate students during its 149th Commencement celebration on Saturday, May 15. The celebration will be presented virtually.
Baccalaureate degree candidates from the School of Arts and Humanities, the School of Education; Individualized Studies; the School of Natural and Social Sciences, and the School of the Professions will be honored during a virtual ceremony starting at noon. Degree candidates from the Graduate School will be honored at a 2:00 p.m. virtual ceremony.
Joy Harjo, United States Poet Laureate, will receive a SUNY honorary doctor of humane letters and deliver the Commencement address at both ceremonies.
The following graduates of the Class of 2021 will be honored with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence in recognition of their academic and extracurricular achievements, leadership, and service: Kelly E. Glowny, Lila M. Rollo, and Matei Schwartz.
Victoire-Grace D. Karambizi will be honored with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence Special Award: Overcoming the Odds.
Gabriella J. McKinley will deliver the baccalaureate student address as the recipient of the President’s Medal for Outstanding Undergraduate Student. I’Jaz J. Eberhardt will deliver the graduate student address as the recipient of the President’s Medal for Outstanding Graduate Student.
Raven P. Baxter, ’14, ’17, science educator and molecular biologist, and Nathan Mroz, ’16, owner and founder of the BFLO Store, will receive the Young Alumnus Achievement Award.
The Distinguished Alumnus Award will be granted to Linda R. Appleby, ’80, music educator, and Michael J. Garner, ’83, chief diversity and inclusion officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, State of New York.
The Honorable Byron W. Brown, ’83, mayor of the City of Buffalo, and Ross B. Kenzie, former chairman and CEO of Goldome Bank, will receive the President’s Distinguished Service Award.
All are encouraged to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates by viewing the ceremonies.
During the week of May 3–7, graduates will have an opportunity to walk across a stage set up in the Campbell Student Union Plaza and be professionally photographed in their academic regalia alongside college leadership. (Sorry, no off-campus guests permitted.) Students must register in advance and adhere to on-campus mask and surveillance testing protocols.
Photos, congratulatory messages, and words of encouragement to our graduates may be posted using the hashtag #BuffStateGrads on Instagram and Twitter. All submissions will be organized and collected through an online Grad Wall.
Commencement 2021 Details
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Celebrating
Bachelor’s Class of 2021: August 2020 graduates, December 2020 graduates, January 2021 graduates, and May 2021 degree candidates. Includes bachelor's degrees. Does not include undergraduate certificates.
Graduate School Class of 2021: August 2020 graduates, December 2020 graduates, January 2021 graduates, May 2021 candidates, and August 2021 candidates. Includes master's degrees, certificates of advanced study, and graduate certificates. Does not include postbaccalaureate certificate programs.
Times
Noon: Baccalaureate ceremonies
2:00 p.m. Graduate ceremony
Link to Ceremonies
All ceremonies will be posted on the Commencement website.
Photos by Bruce Fox, campus photographer.
