Commencement

Commencement Program 2024 Procession Gathering Locations

Event Information

Commencement will take place on Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 10 AM in the Marriott Center. Overflow seating will be available in the Hinckley Center.

BYU President C. Shane Reese will conduct the exercises, which will be held in person and broadcast live on BYUtv from the Marriott Center. All college convocations will be held April 25–26. Individual colleges will communicate their respective details about convocations.

All guests will need a ticket to attend the commencement ceremonies (see below for all ticket information). The Marriott Center has adopted a NO BAG policy. Exception: small clutch bags, no larger than 5" x 8" x 1", with or without a handle or strap can be taken into the arena; medically necessary items or diaper bags will also be permitted after inspection. Security measures such as weapons detection systems will be implemented to ensure the safety of all guests and personnel within the facility. The event is expected to end by 11:30 AM.

Graduates and faculty need to arrive at 8:45 AM for the procession into the Marriott Center. Graduates will line up on the north side of the ASB in the parking lots, organized by their respective colleges (College of Engineering, School of Education, School of Business, etc.) by 9:00 AM. Faculty should line up on the east or west of the ASB according to their college. The procession of faculty and graduates will commence at approximately 9:05 AM.

All graduates must have a cap and gown to participate in graduation. Visit BYU Alumni for ordering options.

Commencement Speaker

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Elder Gerrit W. Gong served as a General Authority Seventy from April 2010 until the time of his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2018. He was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy in October 2015. From 2011 to 2015, Elder Gong was a member of the Asia Area presidency, headquartered in Hong Kong. He concluded that service as the area president.

In 1985 he served as special assistant to the undersecretary of state at the U.S. State Department and in 1987 as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, China. Beginning in 1989 he served in several positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. He was then assistant to the president for planning and assessment at Brigham Young University until April 2010.

Elder Gong received a bachelor of arts degree in Asian and university studies from Brigham Young University. He received a master of philosophy degree and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

He has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary, seminary teacher, bishop, stake mission president, stake president, and Area Seventy.

He and his wife, Susan Lindsay Gong, are the parents of four children and grandparents of four grandchildren.

Honorary Doctorate of Educational and International Leadership

Prof. Dr. Vishwanath D. Karad

Prof. Dr. Vishwanath D. Karad, a renowned and visionary educator, is founder and chief patron of the MIT group of institutions in Pune, India, as well as UNESCO chair holder for human rights, democracy, and peace.

After receiving BE and ME degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Poona (now Pune), he received a PhD degree in engineering and education from Washington International University in the British Virgin Islands. He taught courses as a professor of mechanical engineering for twenty years and has founded various educational institutes in Maharashtra, the third-largest state in India.

His initial endeavor was the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), which soon expanded into multiple institutes and universities in Maharashtra. The World Peace Centre was established as part of MIT in 1996 to emphasize “the importance of value-based universal education in promoting a culture of peace in the global society.”

Vishwanath Karad visited Utah in 2015 to speak in the Parliament of the World’s Religions. During his visit, Dr. Karad was hosted at the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and at BYU. He was deeply impressed with the BYU Honor Code, the emphasis on value-based education, and the coupling of scientific and spiritual education.

His growing familiarity with the Church and BYU has led Dr. Karad to seek greater collaboration with BYU. In August 2017, he recognized the work of the Church by conferring the Philosopher Saint Shri Dnyaneshwara World Peace Prize on Elder D. Todd Christofferson as Church representative. In 2022, Dr. Karad hosted Elder Christofferson and a Church delegation for the unveiling of a statue of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the World Peace Dome.

Though a devout Hindu himself, Dr. Karad appreciates and respects the scriptures of all faiths, teaches the importance of religion in society generally, and fully believes in and promotes interfaith harmony.

Prof. Dr. Karad has also conceptualized, designed, and created some of the finest monuments that convey the message of interfaith harmony for world peace. The crowning glory is of course the World Peace Dome, which is the epitome of the union of science, spirituality, and philosophy.

Ticket Information

Guest ticket requests for April 2024 commencement will be available on April 3rd. A link will be posted on this site where these tickets can be requested. Each graduate may request up to three guest tickets. Note: Tickets for guests can be requested in the portal no sooner than 24 hours after an application for graduation has been submitted. Tickets will be distributed electronically the week of commencement. Graduates will not personally need a ticket for commencement. The ticket portal will close on Friday, April 19th at 5 PM.

Shuttle Information

See commencement shuttle information here.

Broadcast Information

Commencement exercises will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYU Radio, Classical 89 KBYU-FM and byutv.org.

The BYU Commencement is typically available to stream afterwards on the BYUtv app and website (byutv.org) for about a month. Viewers will need to create and sign in to their free BYUtv account in order to watch it. If you have trouble signing in, you can contact BYUtv customer service. The email is byutv@byu.edu and the number is 1 (866)-662-9888.

Convocation Information

See the Convocations website for time and date for your college or school convocation.