Connecticut
Colleges in CT to hold commencement ceremonies. Here’s when and where they take place
It is that time of year: Colleges across the state are gearing up for graduations and commencement ceremonies this weekend.
Hoping to catch a loved one accepting their diploma? Unsure when or where the big day is? We have all of the information you’ll need.
Here is the full breakdown:
Central Connecticut State University:
“Central Connecticut State University will host two outdoor commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 11. (The inclement weather date is Sunday, May 12.) Both ceremonies also will be livestreamed at www.ccsu.edu/commencement/.”
- 9 a.m. ceremony:
- Carol A. Ammon College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
- School of Business
- 2:30 p.m. ceremony:
- School of Education & Professional Studies
- School of Engineering, Science & Technology
Quinnipiac University:
- Friday, May 10, at 1 p.m.: Dr. Manisha Juthani, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, will speak to Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine graduates at M&T Bank Arena on the York Hill Campus.
- Friday, May 10 at 5 p.m.: Arunan Arulampalam, mayor of the city of Hartford, will address graduates from the School of Law at M&T Bank Arena.
- Saturday, May 11 at 10 a.m.: The School of Business and School of Computing and Engineering undergraduate and graduate Commencement is scheduled on the Mount Carmel Campus Quad. Adele Merritt, Intelligence Community chief information officer, will be the guest speaker.
- Saturday, May 11 at 3 p.m.: Jon-Paul Venoit, president and CEO of Masonicare, will address graduates during the School of Health Sciences undergraduate and graduate Commencement on the Mount Carmel Campus Quad.
- Sunday, May 12 at 10 a.m.: Casting director Jazzy Collins will speak at the undergraduate and graduate Commencement of the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Communications on the Mount Carmel Campus Quad.
- Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m.: Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education, will address the School of Nursing and School of Education undergraduates and graduates on the Mount Carmel Campus Quad.
Sunday’s commencement will mark a special day for Rebecca Iannucci, a mother who gave birth twice during her studies and who will be receiving her master’s degree on Mother’s Day, according to UNH.
“This is a Mother’s Day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” she said. “I’ve definitely had a busy schedule, balancing everything. Fortunately, I have a good support system and my husband is really great.”
“I’m so happy to be done with the master’s program,” Iannucci added. “They asked me if I wanted to take some time off to have Ryleigh. I was like, ‘Heck no, I need to be done.’”
Sacred Heart:
- Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at 6 p.m. | Martire Family Arena
3135 Easton Tpke, Fairfield, CT 06825
Graduate commencement: College of Arts & Sciences, College of Health Professions, Davis & Henley College of Nursing - Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 10 a.m. | Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
500 Broad Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604
Undergraduate commencement: College of Arts & Sciences, College of Health Professions - Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 3 p.m. | Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
500 Broad Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604
Undergraduate commencement: Welch College of Business & Technology, Farrington College of Education & Human Development, Davis & Henley College of Nursing, St. Vincent’s College
Springfield College:
“Springfield College will hold its 138th Commencement ceremonies on the weekend of May 11-12, during which undergraduate and graduate students will receive their diplomas and be recognized for their academic accomplishments. Each ceremony will feature a Commencement speaker.”
- “The Graduate Student Commencement Ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 11, at 9:30 a.m. in the Field House in the Wellness and Recreation Complex on the Springfield College campus. We proudly announce that U.S. Representative Richard E. Neal will be granted an honorary Doctor of Humanics degree and deliver the Commencement.”
- “The Undergraduate Student Commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 12, at 9:30 a.m. at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield. This year’s commencement speaker is Martin Dobrow, professor of communications at Springfield College.”
Trinity College:
“Trinity College alumnus Daniel Meyer ’80, P’20 will be the 2024 Commencement speaker on Sunday, May 19, at 11 a.m., on the Main Quad. He will receive an honorary degree along with a pair of local leaders who have shaped Hartford, Luke and Sara Bronin.”
University of Hartford:
“Commencement addresses by two distinguished alumni will be among the highlights of the University of Hartford’s 2024 Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 12, at downtown Hartford’s XL Center.”
- Sunday, May 12 at 9 a.m.: UHart’s Graduate Ceremony
- Sunday, May 12 at 2 p.m.: UHart’s Undergraduate Ceremony
University of New Haven:
- Thursday, May 9 at 4:30 p.m.: “Master’s Degree Students from the Pompea College of Business (Check in begins and gates open at 3 p.m.)”
- Friday, May 10 at 10 a.m. “Master’s Degree Students & Doctoral Candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, and School of Health Sciences (Check in begins and gates open at 8:30 a.m.)”
- Friday, May 10 at 4:30 p.m. “Master’s Degree Students from the Tagliatela College of Engineering (Check in begins and gates open at 3 p.m.)”
- Saturday, May 11 at 10 a.m. “All Undergraduate Students (Check in begins and gates open at 8:30 a.m.)”
University of Saint Joseph:
- Friday, May 10 at 9 a.m.: Pharmacy Hooding ceremony. The speaker at the Pharmacy hooding is Debbie Habib, PharmD, Pharmacy Team Leader and a graduate of USJ’s first Pharmacy class.
- Friday, May 10 at 1 p.m.: PA Hooding Ceremony, Pharmacy at 9 a.m., PA at 1 p.m.
Western Connecticut State University:
“Western Connecticut State University will hold its 126th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 12, at the Total Mortgage Arena, 600 Main St. in Bridgeport. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. for 1,122 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree recipients from the university’s Ancell School of Business, Macricostas School of Arts & Sciences, School of Professional Studies and School of Visual & Performing Arts.”
Yale University:
“Yale’s 323rd commencement will be held on Monday, May 20, 2024, on the historic Old Campus. Monday’s ceremony marks the occasion at which all university and honorary degrees are formally conferred. Diploma ceremonies follow the university ceremony in all residential colleges and at each school.”
Yale is also hosting their Class Day Sunday, May 19, for Yale College graduates. Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, United States surgeon general, is scheduled to be Yale’s 2024 Class Day speaker.
Need your school added? Email bcallahan@courant.com
New Canaan faces Cheshire in the 2025 Connecticut high school Class L football state championship on Saturday afternoon.
The game begins at 4 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut.
The game will stream live on the NFHS Network.
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What: Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class L football championship
Who: New Canaan vs. Cheshire
When: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025
Where: Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut
Time: 4 p.m. EST
Stream: NFHS Network
Tickets: $11,50
Record, MaxPrep state rankings: New Canaan 12-0, No. 1; Cheshire 9-3, No. 11
Here’s more information about the game from the Hartford Courant, via the Tribune News Service:
New Canaan is going for its 16th state title and fourth straight under veteran coach Lou Marinelli and New Canaan outscored its playoff opponents, 85-13. Cheshire’s last finals appearance was 2009, when coach Don Drust was an assistant for the Rams’ team, which beat Staples in overtime to win a Class LL title. Cheshire rallied from a 19-point deficit against Fairfield Ludlowe to win the Class L quarterfinal game and beat Ridgefield 21-0 in the semifinals. QB Aiden Gregorich’s pass to Liam Suomala proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds left in the quarterfinal.
What is the NFHS Network?
The NFHS Network covers more than 30 sports across the country. NFHS Network costs $13.99 per month or $79.99 per year.
Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?
Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.
State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.
The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.
The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.
Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.
Town funding from nip sales
Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.
“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”
The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.
Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.
Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.
At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.
The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.
National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.
New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.
While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.
The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”
Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.
The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.
Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
However, across the board, white residents are more likely to trust local and state government than are residents of color. Black residents had higher levels of trust in government than Latino and Puerto Rican residents, but less than white residents.
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