Penn’s cultural centers are hosting a range of events and special programming in celebration of the Class of 2024.
The Penn LGBT Center hosted its 10th annual Lavender Graduation Ceremony on May 16 at the Harold Prince Theatre at the Annenberg Center. All students who are graduating in the 2023-24 academic year were invited to participate. Parents and friends of graduates were also invited to attend.
The Pan-Asian American Community House is hosting a graduation reception in collaboration with the Asian American Studies Program. The reception will immediately follow Commencement on May 20, starting at 12 p.m., and will be held at the ARCH building.
Associate Director of PAACH Vicky Aquino said that she was “absolutely thrilled” to be involved in hosting the reception.
“It's a day to honor the students’ incredible achievements and the beginning of an exciting new chapter. It’s also a chance for us to celebrate with the graduates and meet their family and friends,” she said.
La Casa Latina, the main hub for Latinx students, is hosting a Latinx Graduation Ceremony in Zellerbach Theatre on May 19, followed by a champagne reception in Annenberg Plaza. The celebration will be bilingual, in Spanish and English.
“We are excited to celebrate this momentous occasion in community and with loved ones present,” La Casa Latina wrote in a post to Instagram.
Makuu: The Black Cultural Center will welcome graduates and their families and friends to attend an awards ceremony on May 18, followed by a lunch reception at the ARCH building. Presented awards are meant to “showcase the spectrum of talent, passion, and aptitude on display in [the] student community,” according to the Makuu website. Recipients are chosen through a process of community nominations and staff member voting.
The celebration is an “opportunity to highlight our students who have made outstanding achievements at Penn as scholars and leaders, while at the same time it allows us an opportunity to honor our African and African-diasporic culture and heritage,” according to Associate Director of Makuu Michelle Gilliard Houston.
Gilliard Houston said that the ceremony serves as a celebration that “reinforces [students'] focus on joy and the sense of family that is nurtured in the Black Penn community.” She added that graduating students will always have a community in Makuu.
“Graduation does not mean the end of their connection to Makuu now that they are alumni. Makuu will always be their home,” she said.
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