Ceremony details

• Date and Time: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 7:00PM
• Location: The Greek Theater
• Commencement Speaker: Director Josh Fryday, GO-Serve Director & California Chief Service Officer, UC Berkeley Alum (’03, J.D. ’09)

All graduating students are required to sign-up to participate in our commencement ceremony. An email will be sent out by our Undergraduate Advisors to students in early 2025 to sign-up.

Commencement Program

The Political Science Department is proud of all of our graduates who have worked diligently to complete their studies and graduate during an exceptional time. To commemorate their accomplishments please join us for the department commencement!

Our commencement will take place on Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Commencement Speaker

As a member of the Governor Gavin Newsom’s Cabinet, and proud Cal Alum, Josh Fryday leads the newly created Governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement. He also serves in a leadership position with the California Governor’s Council for Career Education.  

He oversaw the creation of the largest service force in the country—including the nation’s first statewide California Climate Action Corps, College Corps and Youth Service Corps.

Fryday is the former Mayor of Novato, his hometown. Fryday led the COVID-19 Task Force to support food insecure communities and food banks across the state. He also served as President of Golden State Opportunity (GSO), leading the expansion and implementation of the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC). Prior to GSO, he served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for NextGen Climate, a leading national organization focused on climate change.  

Fryday served in the military as an Officer in the United States Navy (‘09-‘13) as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). He worked on the Military Commissions in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He also served in Japan, where he augmented the Navy’s 7th Fleet’s Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief efforts during ‘Operation Tomodachi’ following the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster. Fryday received his undergraduate and law degree from UC Berkeley and clerked in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, as well as the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office for then District Attorney Kamala Harris.  

He is a founding Board Member of Amazon Frontlines, an emeritus board chair for Demos, a national thinktank focused on issues of economic, racial and political inequality. He is married to Mollye Fryday, an educator, and they have three energetic young boys, Shay, Calvin and Tam.

Departmental Citation   

Each year, the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science awards a graduating senior the Departmental Citation in recognition of his/her/their outstanding accomplishments in Political Science.  The recipient of the Departmental Citation delivers the student address at Commencement.  

We are very pleased to announce Iman Fatimah Qureshi as the recipient of the 2025 Departmental Citation.  



At the intersection of political science and data-driven analysis stands Iman, a Pakistani scholar bridging worlds through her innovative research.  Drawing on her international perspective, Iman's thesis explores the complex emotional dynamics between repression and participation in political resistance movements.   By examining how human emotions catalyze or inhibit political dissent, her work challenges traditional models of political behavior.  Her academic journey continues this fall at New York University, where she will pursue a Master's in Applied Statistics for Social Science research.

We also wish to acknowledge these remarkable graduating seniors who were finalists for the Departmental Citation - Zoe Gittelson, Eli Zachary Glickman, Emma Catherine Levi, and Mark Verzhbinsky.
 

Information for Graduating Students

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

Gates will open at 6:00PM. Enter from the South Gate of the Greek Theatre.

The pavement at the Greek Theatre is uneven and sloped.  We have seen our share of students stumble. Wear sensible shoes (i.e., no 3-inch heels, flip flops).  Bring as few belongings with you as you need, as there's no place to safely store items backstage.  Also, keep an eye on the weather.  The Greek Theatre is an outdoor venue.  It could be chilly or exceedingly warm.  If it's an especially warm day, please bring water (stay hydrated) and wear sunscreen/ sunglasses.  Lastly, only graduating students and faculty are allowed backstage at any time.  Your family and friends will have a near-impossible time connecting with you once inside (receiving tickets, giving flowers).  Please decide on a rendezvous point with friends and family outside the Greek Theatre for before/after the ceremony. 

Lining up

At 6:30PM all participating students must be backstage and ready to start the procession.

Look for a table in the backstage area with index cards and pencils, legibly write your name on a card, and hold onto it. The announcer will read your name from this card as you cross the stage to receive your scroll. If you have any concerns about the pronunciation of your name, write your name the way it sounds (i.e. writing oski as os-kee). Consider including a rhyming word (i.e. rhymes with goatee). You can also say your name to the announcer. The cards are provided by GradImages, so you can order photographs by either filling out the back (or going on-line in advance to gradimages.com (external link) - click "Pre-Event Registration", type in "Berkeley", and click "University of CA Berkeley Political Science").

Line up single-file behind the barricade at the north end of the backstage area (look for signs posted on the wall). The faculty and Ph.Ds will proceed onto the north end of the stage first, so please allow plenty of space for them to gather.

Procession

At 7:00PM SHARP, "Pomp and Circumstance" will start and you will begin your procession from behind the stage to your seat - faculty first, followed by Ph.D.s, then Honors, and finally B.A.s. Faculty, Ph.D. candidates, and Honors students will be seated on the stage. All other B.A.s will go down a ramp to the main seating area, where Suzanne will direct you to your seat. If you are late and miss the procession you can either join the graduates in the last seats or wait in the wings until the awarding of the degrees at the end of the ceremony. The walk from the stage to the seats and back involves a steep ramp with uneven pavement and a step off a ledge and over a grate, so please wear sensible shoes if you can and step carefully.

The Ceremony

There will be a series of speeches and award announcements, and then the conferral of degrees starting with Ph.D.s and then the B.A.s.

• Ph.D.s: Arrive in your cap and gown but hold onto your hood. Stay in your seat until your name is called, then move to the center of the stage, meet your thesis advisor and give him or her your hood. Turn to face the audience while your advisor places your hood over your head from behind. Walk over to Professor Ansell to receive your ceremonial scroll — your photo will be taken at this point — and then follow the photographer's instructions about how to proceed back to your chair. Once you return to your seat onstage, attach your hood to the button at the neck of your gown.
• B.A.s: After the Ph.D.s are awarded, students in the front row should watch for the signal from Suzanne to rise and approach the stage. Efrat will separate and guide you into two lines on stage, and direct you to one of two announcers. Walk up to your "designated" announcer, hand him the card with your name on it, and cross the stage to meet Professor Straus. The photographer will take your picture as you accept your scroll from Professor Straus and later as you leave the stage. Pace yourself and stay at least 15 feet behind the previous student, so the photographer has a clear shot of you. Proceed in the same direction to leave the stage and return to your seat. Finally, Professor Straus will grant the degrees and invite the graduates to participate in the traditional "moving of the tassle" on their mortar boards from right to left.

 

Information for Guests

Enter through the NORTH Gate (external link) of the Greek Theatre. NOTE: All graduating students must enter the Greek Theatre through the (alternate) South Gate.

Signs and balloons are NOT allowed inside the Greek Theatre for Commencement

Gates will open at 6:00PM. The ceremony generally lasts about 2 hours. There is no comfortable place to sit out of the sun (or rain) so guests are discouraged from arriving too early. The Greek is a large amphitheater with plenty of seating, so getting a seat won't be a problem.

Tickets will be available for purchase starting TBA. Tickets will also be available for purchase on Commencement Day (cash only) at the North Gate of the Greek Theatre only (the entrance closest to Hearst Avenue).

UCPD has mandated that there will be bag searches at all Greek Theatre commencements.  Please travel lightly, leaving unnecessary backpacks, etcs at home or in car trunks.  In addition, Cal Performances has issued a list of prohibited items. 

Again, signs and balloons are Not Allowed inside the Greek Theater for Commencement

In addition, these items are also NOT allowed at the Greek:  umbrellas, large bags or backpacks, alcohol, glass bottles/ aluminum cans, coolers/ ice chests, skateboards/ scooters/ bicycles,  noise-makers/ airhorns, musical instruments, toilet paper, fireworks, any items that can be remotely perceived as weapons, banners/ flags, lawn furniture/ chairs, tripods for cameras, strollers and balloons (must park/ tie off at entrance guests), and animals unless for documented service. 

Restrooms are located at both ends of the amphitheater. A wheelchair-accessible restroom is located inside the north entrance. A registered nurse is on duty backstage near the north entrance. Food and bottled water will be sold by Cal Performances inside the north entrance. Commencement Flowers will be stationed outside the north entrance.

If you have additional questions, please review the CalPerformance's FAQ webpage to see if your question is answered there, https://calperformances.org/visit/faqs/.

Reminder: Only graduating students and faculty are allowed backstage or onstage at any time!

 

The Live stream of our 2025 Commencement Ceremony will be available here:

Previous commencement recordings may be provided upon request on a case-by-case basis. If you'd like to request access to a recording of a previous year's Political Science Commencement, please email Erin Blanton at eblanton@berkeley.edu.