Barnard College celebrates Commencement with the Class of 2025

Many graduates expressed their disapproval of the College’s administrators and trustees amid disciplinary actions taken against student demonstrations throughout the year.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

By Kimberly Wing

May 27, 2025

Barnard College held its 133rd Commencement ceremony in recognition of the Class of 2025 at Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday, May 20.

Before the ceremony started, an automated disclaimer stated that some speeches given during the ceremony “do not necessarily or officially reflect opinions of Barnard College,” which the audience laughed at. 

The ceremony officially began at 4:05 p.m., with faculty, administrators, the Board of Trustees, and student speakers ascending the stage, followed by graduates, who sat in the center of the theater’s auditorium.

The ceremony was declared open by Barnard’s President Laura Rosenbury, who received boos both when she entered and left the podium, followed by a greeting from the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Cheryl Glicker Milstein (BC ’82).

After Glicker Milstein announced that she was stepping down after 26 years of service to the College, students responded with loud cheers and applause. Many Barnard students and alumnae involved in pro-Palestinian activism disapprove of Glicker Milstein for donating “millions of dollars to pro-Israel organizations” and “Zionist organizations that have materially supported the destruction of all schools and universities in Gaza.” When Glicker Milstein acknowledged “the privilege” of working with President Rosenbury and “senior staff who push and support and believe in our students every single day,” several students booed and shouted “shame.”

Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, many students and faculty have questioned the College’s disciplinary actions, which have included suspensions and expulsions in response to student demonstrations. 

The greeting from the faculty was then delivered by Rebecca Walkowitz, provost and dean of Barnard’s faculty.

Leslie Grinage, Dean of the College and Vice President for Campus Life and Student Experience, presented the Frank Gilbert Bryson Prize and Alicia L. Lawrence Memorial Award, both of which recognize a graduating senior for their leadership and contributions to Barnard, respectively. Both awards were given to Senior Class President Aurelia Tan (BC ’25).

Tan delivered the charge to the Class of 2025, congratulating students for completing their education despite the challenges of remote learning and conflicts between students and administration on campus.

Tan stated, “We came in with gates slowly reopening after a global pandemic and we are ending with gates closed off to the general public. We were forced to confront politics on a local, national, and global level, which has completely changed the landscape of higher education as we know it.”

“Going forward, I implore all of you to keep kindness in your hearts and practice the love and passion that motivates you to do what you’re proud of,” Tan concluded her speech.

Mariam Sikiru (BC ’25), a representative for the Barnard Senior Fund Committee, presented the senior gift. The Class of 2025 chose to designate their gift to Access Barnard’s Supplemental Academic Support Application (SASA) Emergency Fund, which financially supports international, first-generation, and low income students with urgent academic needs, including textbooks, course materials, and technology. The gift raised over $7250, with contributions from faculty, alumnae, parents, and over 70% of the Class of 2025.

“To me, this is not a donation, this is a statement. We are saying clearly and collectively that access and equity are not optional, they are essential,” Sikiru stated, “Student success must be supported materially, not just rhetorically. That Barnard that we’re proud of is the one that [sic] where no one is left behind.”

Graduating seniors delivered speeches to introduce alumnae awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the College’s highest honor. The 2025 recipients include Helen M. Berman (BC ’64), recognized for her contribution to structural biology and computational chemistry; Jeanine Tesori (BC ’83), the most awarded female theatrical composer in Broadway history; Dr. Judith Weisenfeld (BC ’86), a scholar whose research focuses on African-American religious history, and who participated in student demonstrations in support of the South African anti-apartheid movement during her time at Barnard; and Shabana Basij-Rasikh, president and co-founder of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan, who delivered the Commencement address.

Before introducing Basij-Rasikh, Rosenbury delivered her remarks to graduates and was met with boos while mentioning the College and progressivism. When she stated that “People don’t wait for the world to change,” she was met with jeers, with one student shouting, “You arrested us!”

Rosenbury then awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction to Shabana Basij-Rasikh and introduced her as Commencement speaker.

As Commencement speaker, Basij-Rasikh talked about her experiences of co-founding the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), Afghanistan’s first school for girls, at the age of 18, and leading the evacuations of students from Kabul to Rwanda after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. 

Barnard 2025 Medal of Distinction Honoree Shabana Basij-Raikh giving the commencement address to Barnard graduates.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

At the introduction of her speech, Basij-Rasikh said, “Women don’t graduate college in Afghanistan because women don’t go to college in Afghanistan. Girls don’t go to high school. Girls don’t go to school at all after sixth grade. In sixth grade, puberty comes and education ends. That’s how it is in Afghanistan; that’s the Taliban’s law, and it’s been like this since 2022. Men graduate college and women don’t. Boys graduate high school and girls don’t. This is the Taliban’s law, and this is how a nation — and a society — spirals down into desolation.”

Referencing Barnard’s founding, which the College describes on its website as “bold,” Basij-Rasikh challenged graduates to “be the ones who are bold enough to bridge the gaps [between men and women].”

She recalled discussing SOLA with a Afghan government official, who remarked it was a “shame” that the idea was “[being wasted] on girls.”

“I proved him wrong,” she stated, receiving cheers and applause in response. “Educating girls shouldn’t be a bold idea, but it is in Afghanistan.” 

After Basij-Rasikh concluded her speech, she received a standing ovation from the audience and those on the stage. Afterward, Dean Grinage, met with boos and jeers as she approached the podium, announced the presentation of the degree candidates.

As the almost 900 members of Barnard’s Class of 2025 walked across the stage, some wore articles of clothing highlighting their ethnicity, flags related to their cultural identity, graduating as a first-generation or low income student, or items demonstrating support for Israel or Palestine amid the Gaza war.

Graduating student gives Rosenbury a 'thumbs down' at graduation. [Editors note: This image has been edited to protect the privacy of graduating students crossing the stage.]

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

Many graduates wore keffiyehs or pinned paper poppies to their gowns in support of Palestine. Similar to the Class of 2024’s Commencement, many students raised keffiyehs, flags, and decorated graduation caps calling for Barnard to divest from financial ties to Israel, eliciting loud cheers. Some refused to shake President Rosenbury’s hand, a few of whom pretended to reach out before pulling their hand away or giving her a thumbs down. Other graduates wore pins of the Israeli flag, or yellow ribbons calling for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Graduating student, doning a stole that reads "BRING THEM HOME", crosses the stage and shakes Rosenbury's hand.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

Graduating student waves a keffiyeh while crossing the stage. [Editors note: This image has been edited to protect the privacy of graduating students crossing the stage.]

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

Randa Serhan, College Marshal and Associate Professor of Sociology, officially closed the ceremony and presented the graduates of Barnard College’s Class of 2025. “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys played as graduates exited the theater.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

Barnard stated on its website that “The Class of 2025 reflects the best of a Barnard education: academic excellence, intellectual rigor, and an unwavering belief in the power of women’s education.”