Commencement: The Class of 2017

This is a moment of new beginnings both for Columbia, as the University opens the first two buildings on its new Manhattanville campus, and for the more than 15,000 members of the Class of 2017 who graduate on May 17.

May 10, 2017

Proving that you’re never too old—or too young—to earn a degree, the Class of 2017 includes Michael Shannon, 82, who will receive a master’s degree in anthropology, and Wanying Li, 19, who will graduate from the Engineering School with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.

Image Commencement Ceremony 2017

Among the Class of 2017 are almost 200 military veterans as well as some 2,200 international students from more than 110 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

All will be waiting to hear University President Lee C. Bollinger proclaim that they have been “admitted to the degree for which you have qualified.” And after dark, the Empire State Building will be lighted in blue to honor the Columbia Class of 2017.

Mailman School of Public Health

"With my background, I’m now in a position where I can try to change things for people."

https://news.columbia.edu/content/Mailman-Student-Journeys-from-Incarceration-to-a-Masters-Degree-in-Public-Health

College of Physicians & Surgeons

"What I really value comes down to education and medicine. If you’re not healthy and don’t get an education, it’s much harder to fulfill your potential."

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School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation 

"What I really value comes down to education and medicine. If you’re not healthy and don’t get an education, it’s much harder to fulfill your potential."

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College of Dental Medicine

"What’s the point of designing a beautiful interior with comfortable furnishings if the whole building is going to be blown up?"

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Columbia Business School

"I’m very lucky that I didn’t get into dental school the first time I tried."

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Columbia Law School

"I took a team [to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro]. We called it 'Three Guys One Leg,’ there were two double amputees and a single amputee."

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Columbia College

"I felt this sense of urgency to become a lawyer quickly and help other immigrants navigate our complex laws."

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Data Science Institute

"I learned a lot more about myself because I was forced to be with people who are very different from me. It’s been a powerful, deeply moving experience being here.”

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Columbia Engineering

"I always loved making and breaking things. Coding gave me a way to explore the enigmatic world of computers."

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Department of Music

"What is science good for if it can’t be used to help people?"

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Columbia College

"I like participating in these interconnected forms of music without feeling I have to belong to any one of them."

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Columbia Engineering

"I don’t think that if I had stayed in a regular school that I would have ended up where I am today."

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Columbia Law School

"There are a lot of patterns in tap dance, similar to the patterns found in mathematical modeling."

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College of Dental Medicine

"There are lots of wrongs being done in the world. I’ve been encouraged by the people here who are pointing them out and want to right them."

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Columbia College

"People talk about public health like it’s a soft science, but it’s not. It tackles major issues. Getting dental care to a huge population is a complex issue."

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Columbia Engineering

"I think I will walk away from here with a perspective on rights issues I care about, violence against women and social justice, and hopefully that will help me as an advocate for a nonprofit."

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Columbia College

“Our products are geared to eliminate the social fear associated with STEM topics like math and break the stereotype that STEM is exclusively for geeks."

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Columbia Law School

"The queer community has made a big difference in my life. People get very attached to their affinity groups here, and they pass down institutional knowledge."

https://www.law.columbia.edu/graduation/2017/student-profiles/katherine-barrett