Commencement 2017: The Photo Gallery

Commencement 2017 took place on May 23, with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sacha Pfeiffer delivering the commencement address. The ceremony included talks by President Laura Sparks and student speaker Maya Krtic. In addition to student prize winners, three alumni were awarded presidential citations. This year's gallery includes action both inside and out of the Great Hall as parents and friends helped the Class of 2017 get ready for the transition from student to graduate.

You can watch the ceremony here.

Photographs by João Enxuto

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.