Saturday, October 16 Commencement Celebration Event

To: The Caltech Community
From:  Thomas F. Rosenbaum, Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and Professor of Physics
Date: October 8, 2021
Re: Saturday, October 16 Commencement Celebration Event

I write to update you on the Institute's plans to celebrate Caltech's 2020 and 2021 graduates with an in-person, outdoor ceremony on Beckman Mall on Saturday, October 16. We will welcome back more than 300 recent graduates next weekend and recognize them individually as they walk across Caltech's commencement stage. Graduate students who received doctoral degrees also will have the opportunity to be hooded.

The collective efforts of our campus community to limit the spread of COVID-19 on our campus, and the Institute's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all faculty, staff, and students, have made it possible to honor 2020 and 2021 graduates in this way and with their family and friends present.

While this is a joyous and celebratory moment, it is also a moment that occurs amidst the highly contagious Delta variant and requirements to mitigate the spread of infection within the campus community and beyond. As a result, we have planned a more restrictive and limited outdoor event than was once intended.

Next weekend's event is open only to 2020 and 2021 graduates, their families and friends, and alumni who have registered in advance. Stage seating will include only those with an official role in the special program designed for the celebration.

I hope that you will join the event via livestream on Saturday, October 16 at 10 a.m. A news story and photographs from the event will be published the following week on caltech.edu and via the Institute's social media channels.

For more information about the Saturday, October 16 Commencement event, visit the Commencement website, or contact commencement@caltech.edu.