Nearly 15,000 University of Michigan students joined the ranks of U-M alumni following multiple commencement ceremonies across campus.
Approximately 10,000 of those students celebrated during Spring Commencement at Michigan Stadium on May 3. At that event, Alumni Association Board Chair Mary Kay Haben, MBA’79, welcomed the students to the alumni community.
“No matter where you go, you’ll never be far from the University of Michigan,” she told the graduates. “Because you are not leaving here with just a degree. You are joining a community. You are now apart of one of the most powerful and respected alumni networks in the world.”
Hall of fame baseball player, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Derek Jeter, HLLD’25, was the main commencement speaker. Jeter, who attended U-M for one semester before leaving to pursue a Major League Baseball career, urged the graduates to find their passions, set goals, and make intentional choices.
In her speech, LSA dean Rosario Ceballo, MA’92, PhD’95, asked the graduates to become ambassadors for higher education.
“When you hear attacks on the principles that underpin our institution — academic freedom, freedom of speech, our system of democracy — I encourage you to remember the powerful education you received here,” she said.
“We cannot take our educational system for granted. As graduates of the University of Michigan, I hope you will proudly protect our university and our country’s system of higher education.”
Photos by Jeremy Carroll and Sean Yuille, ’12.
