Celebrating Stanford: Baccalaureate
The Office for Religious & Spiritual Life celebrates life’s big moments at Stanford by hosting our University's annual Baccalaureate celebration.
Baccalaureate (pronounced “bak-uh-lawr-ee-it”) at Stanford is a celebratory gathering for graduating seniors, graduate students, and professional students, as well as their families and friends. This gathering is part of Commencement weekend and is a bookend to the Opening Convocation held four years earlier.
Baccalaureate is a time to acknowledge the spiritual contribution to the education of the whole person.
Baccalaureate
Friday, June 11, 2021
11:00 am Pacific
Graduates: Register here
The Office for Religious & Spiritual Life celebrates life’s big moments at Stanford by hosting the University's annual Baccalaureate celebration, which is part of Commencement weekend and a bookend to the Opening Convocation held four years earlier.
Baccalaureate this year will be a virtual celebratory gathering for graduating seniors, graduate students, and professional students, as well as their families and friends. It is a time to acknowledge the spiritual contribution to the education of the whole person. The celebration will feature reflections and readings from graduating students and performances by Talisman and Taiko.
This year's celebration will be held virtually on Friday, June 11 at 11:00 am Pacific time. Graduates are invited to attend the gathering by registering at https://tinyurl.com/stanfordbaccalaureate
Family and friends will be able to tune into Baccalaureate via YouTube live stream at https://youtu.be/xcHIOR4rml8
Student Speaker Contest
Since 2005, the Office for Religious Life has hosted a student speaker contest, where a graduating senior offers his/her reflections into their own spiritual journey during their time at Stanford, including hopes and dreams for the future for the entire class.
2021 Student Speaker Contest Winners:
Chidinma Agbo
Chidinma is a senior from Norwalk, California majoring in Product Design. In her studies, Chidi focuses on using human-centered design to bring meaning, joy, and new experiences into other people's worlds. While on The Farm, Chidi has found joy in volunteering with organizations such as TeachAids, as well as in serving on the exec teams for groups like NAIJA (Nigerian Students’ Association) and Design for America. Outside of Stanford, she enjoys engaging with her right brain as much as possible, dividing much of her time between creating digital art and working in TV/Film development. In her free time, Chidi enjoys gardening, heading on road trips, and watching Survivor. After graduation, she will be returning to the LA area, hoping to launch an executive-level career in TV development and work toward bringing underrepresented voices to the forefront.
Alice Ballard-Rossiter
Alice is a senior from London, England, majoring in Management Science and Engineering with a specialization in Organizations, Technology and Policy. Entering Stanford, she took classes in everything from Painting and Psychology to Computer Science and Bioengineering. Outside of the classroom, she is passionate about social impact, entrepreneurship and elevating women in STEM. Some particular communities that have made her time at Stanford special are SENSA (Social Entrepreneurship Association), Stanford Women in Finance, her freshman dorm Otero, and the faculty at Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). Upon graduation, she will be working as an Investment Banking Analyst and in the future she hopes to become a diplomat, using her experience at Stanford to advocate on others' behalf and improve foreign policy
Gracie Newman
Originally from Buffalo, New York, Gracie is majoring in English and minoring in Political Science and French. Her extracurricular interests include comedy, visual art, and marine conservation. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, swimming in the ocean, and quoting Foucault inappropriately. Next year, she will be obtaining an MFA in Fiction from the Michener Center at The University of Texas at Austin. She hopes to one day be an author and to expand access to the literary arts for underserved communities.