CSUN Celebrates Graduation with Series of Commencement Ceremonies

A record 11,627 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree candidates are eligible to graduate from California State University, Northridge this year. Photo by Lee Choo.

A record 11,627 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree candidates are eligible to graduate from California State University, Northridge this year. Photo by Lee Choo.


In an all-time record for the university, 11,627 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree candidates are eligible to graduate from California State University, Northridge this year.

CSUN’s graduation celebration begins the evening of Saturday, May 11, with the university’s Honors Convocation, and concludes the evening of Monday, May 20, with the last of CSUN’s seven commencement ceremonies. All eight ceremonies will take place on the lawn in front of the university’s iconic Delmar T. Oviatt Library, located at the heart of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

“Commencement is always an inspiring time at the university,” said CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison. “It is a reaffirmation of the life-changing opportunities that education provides and a celebration of the achievements of our students. It is also a time when family and friends get a chance to acknowledge and applaud all that their loved ones have accomplished to earn their degrees.

“Honors Convocation and the commencement ceremonies give CSUN the formal setting to celebrate our students before they take the next steps toward their future, and join the more than 360,000 Matador alumni who are elevating our region and beyond,” she said.

CSUN’s 2019 commencement ceremonies can be watched live online on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/CalStateNorthridge

or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/calstatenorthridge.

Honors Convocation begins at 6 p.m. on May 11. This year’s speaker will be CSUN alumnus Robert D. Taylor, a financial industry leader and nationally recognized advocate for economic justice.

Taylor graduated from CSUN in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering before he went on to Stanford University, where he earned an MBA and a law degree. He is a founding partner of the investment firm Centinela Capital Partners, LLC. Prior to that, he was a founding partner of the private equity firm Blue Capital and a partner at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Taylor is a member of the CSUN Foundation Board of Directors, and he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the university in 2016.

CSUN’s first commencement ceremony — for graduates of the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Science and Mathematics — will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 17.

At 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, graduates of the Departments of Africana Studies, Criminology and Justice Studies, History, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology, and Urban Studies and Planning in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences will take part in CSUN’s second commencement ceremony.

CSUN’s third commencement ceremony — for the graduates of the Michael D. Eisner College of Education and the graduates of the Departments of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, Psychology and Public Administration in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences — will take place at 6 p.m. on May 18.

At 8 a.m. on Sunday, May 19, the graduates of the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics will take part in CSUN’s fourth ceremony.

CSUN’s fifth ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on May 19 for the graduates of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

At 8 a.m. on Monday, May 20, the graduates of the College of Humanities and the Departments of Child and Adolescent Development, Communication Disorders, Environmental and Occupational Health, and Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Health and Human Development will take part in CSUN’s sixth commencement ceremony.

During the ceremony, an honorary doctorate of humane letters will be awarded to Susan Burton, an advocate for incarcerated women and at-risk youth and founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project in South Los Angeles.

CSUN’s seventh and final commencement ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on May 20 for the graduates of the Departments of Health Sciences, Kinesiology, Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Recreation and Tourism Management in the College of Health and Human Development.

For more information about CSUN’s 2019 Commencement, visit the website https://www.csun.edu/commencement.

, , , , ,