2026 Baccalaureate Celebration

Baccalaureate (pronounced “bak-uh-lawr-ee-it”) at Stanford is a celebratory gathering for graduating seniors, graduate students, and professional students, as well as their families and friends. This gathering is part of Commencement weekend and is a bookend to the Opening Convocation held four years earlier.

Baccalaureate Entry

Graduates: Enter through the Grove Gate on Lasuen Street between Bing Concert Hall and Frost Amphitheater. Gates open at 8:30 am. Arrive before 9:00 am. See the Instructions for Graduating Students page when posted in late spring quarter.

Family and friends: Enter through the Galvez Gate at the corner of Campus Drive and Galvez Street. Gates open at 9:00 am. Due to limited venue capacity, guest entry to Baccalaureate is first-come, first-served and not guaranteed. When capacity is reached, guests will be sent next door to Bing Concert Hall to view the livestream. See parking details on the Guest Information page.

Accessible entrance: Enter through the Lasuen Gate near the corner of Roth Way and Lasuen Street. Gates open at 9:00 am. See the Accessibility page for parking details.

More information for guests attending Baccalaureate

Baccalaureate Speaker

Lerone A. Martin

Lerone A. Martin, who is director of Stanford’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute and a prominent scholar in religious studies, will deliver the university’s 2026 Baccalaureate address.

Martin will speak at the celebration for graduates, family members, and other guests on Saturday morning, June 13, at Frost Amphitheater. The university’s 135th Commencement ceremonies will follow on Sunday, June 14.

Martin, who holds the Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professorship, became the second director of the King Institute in 2022. A professor of religious studies and of African and African American studies in the School of Humanities and Sciences, he is also the incoming chair of the Religious Studies Department. His scholarly work explores the intersections of religion and politics in the 20th century, contributing significantly to the understanding of the American experience.

“With Lerone Martin as our Baccalaureate speaker, we are inviting our graduates into a moment of deep reflection held alongside celebration,” said Tiffany Steinwert, the university’s dean for religious and spiritual life. “Dr. Martin helps us see the past is not behind us but alive within us, shaping the questions we ask and the futures we imagine. As our students stand between what has been and what is yet to come, his voice will challenge and inspire them to reflect not only on what Stanford has meant to them, but also, more importantly, life’s most pressing question: who they are and seek to become for the sake of the world.”

Read the full article on the Stanford Report

Student Speaker

Lamya Sikandar Butt
Economics, ’26

Lamya Butt is a senior from Dubai and Toronto, majoring with Honors in Economics and minoring in South Asian Studies. Her honors thesis explores the financial case for climate-resilient schools in Pakistan, bridging her interests in education equity, development economics, and finance. On campus, she has served four years on the Stanford Women in Business executive board and co-organized its largest leadership conference for low-income high school students. She also serves as Vice President of Pakistanis at Stanford, Resident Assistant at 675 Lomita, TA for courses at the GSB and d.school, and Financial Officer for Alpha Phi. Outside the classroom, she enjoys running the campus loop, exploring Palo Alto's restaurant scene, and FaceTiming her family. After graduation, Lamya will move to New York City to join Evercore as an Investment Banking Analyst.