The Ithaca College Commencement Ceremony has traditionally featured a student speaking as a representative of the undergraduate senior class. For the May 2027 ceremony (scheduled for May 16, 2027) the Commencement Committee is excited to invite all undergraduate seniors to participate in a competition to be selected as the student speaker for the class of 2027.
All undergraduate seniors with a graduation date between December 2026 and December 2027 are eligible to apply to be the student commencement speaker. Students must have earned a minimum of 60 credits at Ithaca College and have a cumulative grade point average as of the end of the fall 2026 term of at least 3.0 to qualify for this recognition.
The Ithaca College Commencement Committee will review all applications and select finalists who will then be required to prepare and deliver full draft speeches to be shared with a team of senior undergraduate students who will make the final recommendation of the student who should be selected.
The selected graduating senior will then be part of the program for the Ithaca College May 2027 Commencement Ceremony.
The final speech is expected to be between 2-3 minutes long.