Trinity College to Celebrate Class of 2024 at 198th Commencement

Four years after many members of the Class of 2024 began their Trinity College experience as remote learners during the COVID-19 pandemic, they will graduate together on the Main Quad during the 198th Commencement.

Thousands of members of the Trinity community—including students, families, alumni, faculty, staff, and guests—are expected to gather for the ceremony on Sunday, May 19, at 11:00 a.m., when the College awards Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and master’s degrees. The academic procession gets underway on the Long Walk at 10:50 a.m.

As they march into the ceremony, each graduate will have the opportunity to walk across the Luther-Roosevelt stone, which they avoid stepping upon until Commencement. The stone was laid in 1919 to commemorate a visit by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who had received an honorary degree the previous year. Trinity students later began the tradition of bypassing the stone until graduation, fearing that to walk across it would prevent them from earning a degree.

Trinity alumnus Daniel Meyer ’80, P’20, an award-winning restaurateur, will be the Commencement speaker. A political science major, Meyer gained his first restaurant experience in New York City following graduation. He then went to Europe to study cooking in Italy and France before launching his first eatery, Union Square Cafe, at age 27.

After opening additional restaurants, Meyer founded the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). Four of the group’s restaurants earned three stars from The New York Times, and his locations consistently appear on the list of “Most Popular” in the Zagat guide. Under Meyer’s leadership, USHG created the fine-casual chain Shake Shack.

Meyer, his restaurants, and his chefs have earned 28 James Beard Awards, and his business book, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, is a New York Times bestseller. In addition to his businesses, Meyer supports several nonprofit and social justice organizations, including No Kid Hungry, the Irving Harris Foundation, and the Stairway Fund. He also is a former member of Trinity’s Board of Trustees and a parent of a Trinity alumna.

Meyer will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in recognition of his investment in and dedication to hospitality and to serving others, his community, and the College.

Honorary degrees also will be presented to a pair of local leaders who have shaped Hartford, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and architect, attorney, and academic Sara Bronin.

Luke Bronin is a politician, lawyer, and veteran who was the 67th mayor of Connecticut’s capital city, serving from 2016 to 2024. He previously served as general counsel for former Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy. Before that, he served in two senior posts at the U.S. Department of the Treasury during President Barack Obama’s first term, as senior adviser to the deputy secretary of the Treasury and then as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.

Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American professor and policymaker whose interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places. She serves as the 12th chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, after confirmation by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate. She also was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as a trustee of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. Bronin is currently on leave from Cornell University.

Graduating senior Aarti Carolina Lamberg ’24 has been selected as the Commencement ceremony’s student speaker.

The Trinity College Trustee Awards for Faculty, Student, and Staff Excellence will be announced, as will two awards for exemplary teaching: the Thomas Church Brownell Prize for Teaching Excellence, which goes to a senior faculty member, and the Dean Arthur H. Hughes Award for Achievement in Teaching, which honors a junior faculty member.

Commencement will be held rain or shine on the Main Quad. In the event of extreme weather conditions, the ceremony would be held in the Koeppel Community Sports Center at 175 New Britain Avenue, where indoor seating is limited. If such a move is necessary, details would be communicated via email to the campus community by 7:00 a.m. Sunday and a notice would be posted on Trinity Today and on the College’s home page.

The Baccalaureate Service will be held in the Trinity College Chapel at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 18. This year’s Baccalaureate speaker is Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Law Glenn W. Falk M’07. The celebration honors Trinity’s scholars—both students and faculty members—as it reflects the liberal arts environment, invites thanksgiving, and includes elements of the rich diversity of spiritual, religious, and ethical thinking embodied by the College community.

For more information about Commencement Weekend, including a full schedule, click here. To view a live video of Commencement online, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET on May 19, look for the link on the Trinity College Commencement website. Follow the festivities on social media @TrinityCollege and use #TrinGrad and #TrinColl2024 to join the conversation.