Baccalaureate

Since Yale’s first century, Yale College seniors and faculty have gathered on the Sunday before Commencement for the Baccalaureate ceremony, a ceremony with a Baccalaureate sermon at its heart. The sermon of days past has given way to an address by Yale’s president and the readings of sacred texts. Of the three main events of Commencement weekend - Baccalaureate, Class Day, and Commencement - Baccalaureate is the most formal.