UB hosting first in-person commencement season in two years

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Some 6,450 students are candidates to receive 6,876 degrees and certificates during the University at Buffalo’s 2022 commencement ceremonies, which conclude this weekend.

For the first time in two years, all 22 commencement events at UB are taking place in person. There are no vaccine or masking requirements for graduates or attendees; however, the university posted a message advising individuals to be cautious when attending graduation ceremonies or parties.

Media are invited to cover this weekend’s commencement exercises, which include two ceremonies on Sunday for the College of Arts and Sciences: one at 9:30 a.m. in Alumni Arena and the other at 3 p.m. in Alumni Arena. The complete schedule of graduation ceremonies is available on the UB Commencement website.

While commencement is ordinarily a time for celebration, many of this year’s ceremonies will be tinged with grief and sadness as members of the UB community reflect on the mass shooting at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo in which a white gunman motivated by white supremacist ideology killed 10 Black people shopping at the store, located in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

At the School of Architecture and Planning’s 50th commencement on Friday, May 20, Charles Davis II, a UB associate professor of architectural history known worldwide for his work on race in architecture, will address members of the Class of 2022.

In this moment of a new racial reckoning for the country – and, now, in Buffalo after Saturday’s mass shooting – Davis’ talk will discuss just how far racism extends in the history and contemporary culture of the disciplines of architecture and urban planning, and across communities.

Davis’ research has revealed that racial thinking, and racism, is deeply woven into the narratives, policies and practices of our built environment.

Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader of the New York State Assembly, is scheduled to receive the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UB’s highest honor, at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ graduate commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday, May 20, in Alumni Arena.

Sargur N. Srihari, SUNY Distinguished Professor and an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of computer science, will receive the UB President’s Medal posthumously in recognition of extraordinary service to the university. Srihari died March 8 due to complications from a glioblastoma. He was 72. Srihari’s wife, Rohini Srihari, professor and associate chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, will accept the award, also during the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ graduate ceremony on May 20.

SUNY honorary doctorates will be presented to Ravinder K. Bansal, co-founder, former chairman and CEO of AirSep Corporation, and Francesco Calogero, a theoretical physicist and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Italy’s Sapienza University of Roma.

Bansal will receive a SUNY Honorary Doctorate of Science at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ undergraduate commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 21, in Alumni Arena.

Calogero will receive a SUNY Honorary Doctorate of Science in absentia at the College of Arts and Sciences’ undergraduate commencement ceremony for students in the arts, natural sciences and math at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 22. UB faculty member Gino Biondini, professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, will accept the award on Calogero’s behalf.