Yale Commencement 2018
Class of 2018
Monday, May 21 2018 at 10:30 am - 3:00 pm EDT
165 Whitney Ave.
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
On May 21, 2018, members of the Class of 2018 will receive their degrees from the Yale School of Management.
Graduates participate in both the University Commencement Ceremony and the Yale SOM Diploma Ceremony on Commencement Day, as well as other events during the preceding weekend.
View the Yale University commencement schedule for Sunday, May 20 & Monday, May 21.
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The Yale School of Management hosted its 41st Commencement on May 21, awarding diplomas to 465 members of the Class of 2018 in the sunny courtyard of Edward P. Evans Hall.
The graduating class included 322 students in the full-time MBA program, 62 in the Master of Advanced Management program, 75 in the MBA for Executives program, and 6 in the Master of Management Studies in Systemic Risk program.
Yale SOM Acting Dean Anjani Jain welcomed family and friends to the ceremony and congratulated students on their achievements, telling them that the school admitted them because “we found in each of you a singular passion backed by enormous talent for addressing some of the most vexing problems confronting our planet.”
Jain reminded students to continue cultivating their moral characters as they progress through their careers. “As you assume positions of leadership and greater responsibility, the ethical dilemmas you face will arise in situations of ever-increasing ambiguity and complexity,” he said. “The habits of thought and action you have acquired will guide your decisions and will, in turn, continue to be shaped by the decisions you make.”
Jain encouraged students to remain grateful for the opportunity to have earned a Yale degree. “I urge you to carry your credentials with lightness, humility, grace, generosity, and uncompromising integrity,” he said.
Class speaker Tharinda Gooneratne ’18, a graduate of the full-time MBA program, praised his classmates as a “class full of insanely talented yet astonishingly humble individuals that never cease to amaze me.” Noting that his classmates came from 46 different nations, from different industries, and with different beliefs, Gooneratne said that all these traits blended to create a single, powerful community.
“With every passing day, we were reminded of how blessed we were to be part of such an amazing community, one where students from every corner of the world constantly learn from each other,” he said. “This is what made Yale SOM such a special place,” he said.
Gooneratne encouraged his classmates to embrace the privilege that a Yale degree confers. “As future leaders of business and society, it is up to us to prove that diversity is a strength that needs to be cherished,” he said. “The road ahead may be long, the road ahead may be challenging, but let us not forget that we have been granted this amazing chance to make a difference.”