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Date May 25, 2025
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As Brown celebrates Commencement and Reunion Weekend 2025, look no further for complete event details, news, photo, video and social media coverage of the festivities.

Brown’s newest graduates encouraged to lead with love, hope and compassion

Degrees for Brown’s undergraduate Class of 2025 were officially conferred during the College Ceremony, where Brown’s president shared with graduates why everyone on campus loves and will miss them.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In the days approaching Brown’s 257th Commencement and Reunion Weekend, University President Christina H. Paxson wanted to hear from the soon-to-be college graduates. What, she wondered, did they love most about their time at Brown?

So she asked — and students’ answers did not disappoint. Double chocolate muffins from the Blue Room. Love of the local community. Campus amenities ranging from the College Green to the pool in the Nelson Fitness Center. Brown’s boundless student clubs and organizations. Research opportunities, the Open Curriculum and the diversity of thought on campus. 

“But not surprisingly, many of you talked about the people you’ve met who have made Brown feel like home,” Paxson said. “Your friends, especially. Your professors. The Brown staff members who support you every day.”

In her Commencement address at the College Ceremony on Sunday, May 25, Paxson returned that love. 

Before officially conferring 1,904 bachelor’s degrees upon the undergraduate Class of 2025 gathered on the grounds of the First Baptist Church in America, she told them why she — and everyone else at Brown — will miss them, and why they’re so excited for what lies ahead for the new graduates.

“We love you because you achieve the highest standards of excellence in all you do, and you support your peers so they can do the same,” Paxson said. 

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Brown President Christina H. Paxson asked seniors what they loved most about their time at Brown — and then told the new graduates what Brown loves most about them.

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Graduating senior Charlotte Knutsen delivered a rousing rendition of the national anthem.

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During the College Ceremony, President Christina H. Paxson offered a shout-out to the Brown Band, which led Sunday’s procession of graduates and alumni 100 years after the band got its start.

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Pioneering and soon-to-retire University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson offered the College Ceremony’s invocation.

The president offered shout-outs to the Brown Band, which led Sunday’s procession of graduates and alumni 100 years after the band got its start — and the women’s softball team, which this spring clinched a spot in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship for the first time since 1997.

“We love you because you care deeply about the Brown community,” Paxson said. “You show up for each other. You cheer each other in classrooms and labs, on athletic fields and on stage… And we love you because you have endless energy and passion to use your knowledge to improve the wider world in which you live.”

In departments and programs ranging from classics and economics to computer science and neuroscience, Paxson said professors loved teaching the members of Brown’s Class of 2025 because they bring intelligence, curiosity and persistence to their studies.

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This year’s 1,904 seniors processed through the Van Wickle Gates and down College Street to arrive at the First Baptist Church in America.

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At the College Ceremony, students carried on the tradition of turning their tassel from the right side to the left upon the conferral of their degrees.

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Since 1776, all but two Brown Commencements have been held at the First Baptist Church in America — for generations, inside its Meeting House; and since 2006, on the church grounds to accommodate the full class of graduates.

After a rousing rendition of the national anthem by graduating senior Charlotte Knutsen opened the College Ceremony, Brown’s pioneering and soon-to-retire University chaplain, Janet Cooper Nelson, offered the invocation. She said that having arrived at Brown in COVID-19’s shadow, the seniors now emerge into a nation “aching with new chaos” and yearning for the vision, skill and hope Brown’s newest graduates can offer.

“Rising stars of Brown’s new generation, surely you will face tasks to confer dignity, to advocate for compassion, to speak for the voiceless…” Cooper Nelson said. “You will hear claims that privation and fear and grievance justify an end to legal conduct, health care, support for research or even learning — that people don’t need adequate housing, that we need to save money, and no one really deserves to eat, but maybe we can work it out. Repudiate those claims. These are not the marks and metrics of great societies.”

Paxson echoed the urge to think creatively to solve problems and make a positive impact. 

Her departing ask of the graduates? When they leave Brown, that they carry their ideas, passion and love for community and humanity to their new homes, workplaces and schools. 

With that departing encouragement, the graduates turned their tassels to the left as their bachelor’s degrees were officially conferred.

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Complete Coverage

As Brown celebrates Commencement and Reunion Weekend 2025, look no further for complete event details, news, photo, video and social media coverage of the festivities.