Students tossing their mortarboards at Graduation

Graduation

Class Day will take place on Sunday, May 17, from 4:30–6:45 p.m., on the South Lawn, in front of Butler Library. Join us as graduates cross the stage and are celebrated by family, friends, faculty, and classmates. Please check this website regularly for updates and additional details.

I’m delighted to share that the Columbia Law School Class of 2026 Class Day Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 17, from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. on the South Lawn of our Morningside Heights campus, in front of Butler Library. Class Day is our Law School graduation ceremony. At this ceremony, your name is announced as you cross the graduation stage to the applause of your peers, faculty, family, and friends! 

And, as if that were not enough celebration for your tremendous accomplishments, Columbia’s University Commencement will take place on Wednesday, May 20. Commencement is a University-wide graduation celebration that seeks to celebrate all 17 schools and their graduates. While individual graduates do not cross any stage, the Law School is acknowledged by the entire University community and it is the date of your degree conferral.

Please continue to check this webpage, where we will include information about: renting graduation regalia; obtaining visas and guest tickets (typically, ~6 per student); how to sign up for graduate portraits; and so much more. Updates will be shared on a rolling basis, particularly in the spring semester. 

The Office of Student Services looks forward to working closely with the Student Senate and their Graduation Committee in planning for Graduation Day. We are delighted to be able to share this information with you so early in the academic year, and hope that this helps with your planning. While May 2026 feels far away, we know it will be here sooner than we can imagine. So, mark your calendars now!

Dean Andrea C. Saavedra
Associate Dean, Registration and Student Services

The Program

Clare Huntington

Professor Clare Huntington ’96 Awarded 2025 Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching

Students praise Huntington for her expertise in family law, engaged teaching style, and classroom pedagogy. She will receive the prize, awarded annually by the Law School’s graduating class, and speak at graduation on May 18.

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Steve Bullock

Former Montana Governor Steve Bullock ’94 to Speak at 2025 Columbia Law School Graduation

The two-term governor will deliver the keynote address to the Class of 2025 at the May 18 ceremony. 

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A group of 6 graduates in regalia outside at graduation

The Regalia

The tradition of wearing academic attire began in England in the Middle Ages (a gown and hood helped keep scholars warm) and is thought to have come to the United States through King’s College—now Columbia University.

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