Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Commencement Weekend: May 22-24, 2026
Essential information for graduating ENVS seniors
Commencement Weekend: May 22-24, 2026
Essential information for graduating ENVS seniors
Welcome, seniors!
This page is your home base for your Commencement Weekend with IBES, with everything you and your families need for your Departmental Ceremony—from RSVP details and guest seating to helpful links for the big weekend.
Watch live: 2026 ENVS Diploma Ceremony
Families, friends, and alumni are invited to tune in on Sunday, May 24 (estimated start 2:30 pm EST) as our Environmental Sciences and Studies graduates cross the stage and mark this milestone together.
Zoom link coming soon.
Your Commencement Weekend at a Glance
Friday, May 22
7 – 9 p.m.
Annual IBES Cocktail Party
For Environmental Sciences & Studies alumni and graduating seniors
Please join us for a delightful evening of refreshments and camaraderie, where you can reconnect with old friends and talk with students from this year’s graduating class of Environmental Sciences & Studies concentrators. RSVPs requested by April 20.
Urban Environmental Lab (UEL), 135 Angell St
9 p.m. – midnight
The biggest outdoor party of the year and a decades-old Brown tradition.
College Green and Simmons Quad
Saturday, May 23
11 a.m.
Moderated by Kim Cobb, Lawrence and Barbara Margolis Director of IBES. Speakers include Baylor Fox-Kemper, Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences & IBES Faculty Affiliate; Rebecca Gasior Altman, PhD’08, writer, environmental sociologist, and IBES Research Affiliate; and Miriam Goldstein ’03, Executive Director, National Ocean Protection Coalition
The ocean plays a critical role in supporting all life on Earth, even as climate change, plastics, and overfishing test the limits of its resilience. Join Brown faculty and alumni experts in ocean science, ocean policy and plastics to understand how we got here, and how we can all help turn the tide for a sustainable future for the world’s oceans.
Available online (livestream link coming soon) and the Watson School of International and Public Affairs, 111 Thayer Street, Joukowsky Forum
1 p.m.
A multifaith service for graduating seniors.
Procession from College Green to service at First Baptist Church
Sunday, May 24
9:45 a.m.
University Procession & College Ceremony
Seniors march through the Van Wickle Gates in this decades-old Brown tradition.
From Waterman Street to First Baptist Church
ENVS Departmental Ceremony
2:30 – 4:45 p.m. (estimate)
ENVS Departmental Ceremony
For Environmental Sciences & Studies concentrators and their families
Kasper Multipurpose Room, 75 Waterman Street or via Zoom
Departmental Ceremony: Time to RSVP
ENVS seniors: please confirm your biographical details and RSVP for the IBES Departmental Ceremony. Thank you in advance!
Important ENVS Departmental Ceremony Info for Seniors
Diploma covers will be conferred by ENVS tracks. When your group is announced, please gather by the stairs to wait for your name to be called. Please be mindful of those preceding you and try to keep noise to a minimum when you line up.
Single-use, all-gender restrooms are located down the hall behind the catering tables: two on the main floor, one upstairs.See what it's like: 2025 ENVS Ceremony
On Sunday, May 25, 2025, our Environmental Sciences and Studies graduates crossed the stage and marked this milestone together.