Welcome to the Brooklyn College Division of Student Affairs

Convocation and Commencement

Location: 2113 Boylan Hall
Phone: (718) 951-5352
Website: BC Commencement web site

Ceremonies take place during the academic year. Convocation marks the beginning of each academic year while commencement marks graduation.

During Convocation, Entering Brooklyn College Students recite the Brooklyn College Pledge:

As I join the community of learning and scholarship that is Brooklyn College, receiving the rights and privileges accorded such membership, I pledge to: HONOR, examine, and contribute to the scholarly heritage created by those who preceded me. RESPECT the sanctity of the learning environment and pursue knowledge with personal integrity and academic honesty. SUPPORT a civil community and a culture of diversity by respecting the rights and freedoms of those who differ from me. PARTICIPATE in the campus life of the college and exercise my rights as a campus citizen while developing my skills as a leader, so that I leave this a better place for the generations that follow me. By endorsing these principles, I accept the obligation to behave in ways that contribute to a civil campus society free from bias and intolerance, and I resolve to support this civility in others. This I pledge to Brooklyn College and its community of scholars.

During Convocation, Entering Brooklyn College Students recite the Brooklyn College Pledge:At the Commencement Exercises, Brooklyn College graduates recite the Ephebic Oath, a pledge of citizenship that dates from ancient Greece. It is a pledge to bring honor to our city.

We will never bring disgrace to our city by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, not ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks; we will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city, both alone and with many; we will revere and obey the city’s laws and do our best to incite a like respect and reverence in those about us who are prone to annul them and set them at naught; we will strive unceasingly to quicken the public’s sense of civic duty, and thus, in all these ways, we will strive to transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.