Lavender Graduation is an annual ceremony conducted on numerous campuses to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to their universities.
Letter to Graduating Students (4/8/2024):
Greetings Bruins,
Join us in celebrating 26 years of Lavender Graduation on-campus at Korn Convocation Hall on Saturday, June 15th from 1-3pm PT! Registration is now open for all undergraduates, graduate, and professional students who would like to participate in this special event intended to uplift LGBTQ+ graduates at UCLA. As is tradition with Lavender Graduation, will continue to highlight and honor the resilience and talent that exists within our Bruin LGBTQ+ community.
We are thrilled to be celebrating this year’s graduates together in-person, and we will also strive to keep our community safe during this joyous occasion. Please note that we will be practicing the same community wellness guidelines that the Center practices for our on-campus programs. We strongly encourage attendees to continue to mask in all indoor spaces for the ceremony. Masks will be provided at the check-in table to all who would like one.
Lastly, in the spirit of celebrating the accomplishments and resilience of our community members, we encourage all who plan to attend to nominate students, student organizations, staff, and faculty who have left a lasting impact on the UCLA LGBTQ community for our traditional Lavender Graduation awards. Graduates can submit nominations as part of their registration, and other campus community members may do so via our awards nomination form.
Please reach out via DM on Instagram @uclalgbtq or email uclalavgrad@gmail.com with any questions.
Congratulations to the Class of 2024!
In community,
UCLA Lavender Graduation Committee
Registration
Graduating students (undergraduate, graduate, professional) may register to walk at Lavender Graduation through May 5, 2024 at 11:59pm PT. If you have any questions, please reach out to uclalavgrad@gmail.com.
Program
Date and Time: Saturday, June 15th from 1:00-3:00 PM PT
*Sequence of Events:
- Welcome and Land Acknowledgement
- Opening Remarks
- Keynote Address
- Undergraduate and Graduate Student Highlights
- Awards Ceremony
- LGBTQ Studies Certificate Presentation of Minors
- Graduating Student Speaker
- Recognition of Graduates
- Closing Remarks
*Order of events is subject to change.
Tag the Center on Instagram!
Lavender Graduation will also offer graduates and award recipients the opportunity to be featured on our social media. We would love for our audience of students, alumni, and community members to celebrate along with you. If you tag the LGBTQ CRC at @UCLALGBTQ on an Instagram post featuring yourself, we will repost the image to our Instagram story. Please note that the tag to the Center's Instagram account will count as consent to repost on our story and may be reshared by the official UCLA Instagram account @UCLA. We will not share the images on any other platforms. In addition, your account setting needs to be made public, so we can see the post and have access to reshare. We look forward to seeing what highlights you share with us!
Keynote Speaker
To be announced!
Awards
Has a friend, student organization, staff, or faculty member made a large impact in your life and/or the UCLA LGBTQ community? Have you also been involved on-campus as an LGBTQ student? Nominate yourself, a friend, staff, or faculty for an award! Submit an award nomination for a UCLA community member by May 10th! See the Lavender Graduation Awards page below to read about each award.
In addition to the awards above, the LGBTQ CRC would like to highlight the Matthew B. Palazzolo Memorial Award for Excellence in Leadership and Public Service. Established in 2021 to honor the life and legacy of LGBTQ activist, actor, and Bruin Matthew B. Palazzolo ‘05, this award is open to any full time UCLA undergraduate or graduate student (not necessarily graduating) who has provided leadership and service to the UCLA LGBTQ+ community during the years of their current degree and who meets the following criteria:
- has demonstrated excellence in leadership abilities
- has worked to address LGBTQ issues through community and public service
Sponsor Today
Is your department or organization interested in supporting UCLA's graduation ceremony for LGBTQ Bruins? Consider submitting an ad for our program booklet via our Lavender Graduation sponsorship form! If you have questions about supporting Lavender Graduation, please email us at lgbt@lgbtq.ucla.edu.