Let’s celebrate our newest Michigan alumni, some extraordinary faculty, and the new permanent chancellor at UM-Flint.

2024 commencement speaker Brad Meltzer shares how magic provides insight to shape lives, aligning with classmate Desmond Howard (far left), and 2023 national champions Blake Corum and J.J. McCarthy, to drive home the point.

With the approach of Spring Commencement May 3, the University has emailed the Ann Arbor campus community and the families of prospective graduates regarding possible campus protests. The University seeks to ensure that “graduates are able to experience the joyous and celebratory event they deserve,” the message stated.

U-M’s focus for the decade will target key areas with the greatest potential for impact.

Nominees may be individuals who have advanced their field of endeavor in significant ways, or who have made compelling contributions to society. Nominating deadline for candidates to be considered for the 2024 Spring Commencement Exercises is 5 p.m. Oct. 16.

Declaring them a ‘bridge in the unrelenting cycle of life,’ renowned musician Wynton Marsalis told U-M graduates they must step up during difficult times to be leaders, critical thinkers, and people willing to spark a change.

He may have dismissed his own commencement ceremonies as meaningless, but professor Mika LaVaque-Manty came to revere the academic ritual soon after he volunteered as U-M’s chief marshal in 2008. He will pass the torch following Spring 2023 commencement.

Mark Twain is credited with saying, ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’ The same could be said for commencement speeches. Listen in, as we revisit the most inspiring lines from past University of Michigan commencement speakers like Lawrence Kasdan, Joyce Carol Oates, Ken Burns, and more.

The Wolverine blood runs strong in this Michigan clan, whose newest alum, Amanda Balogh, BS, is the 14th member of the family to attend U-M. The pioneer was her great-grandmother Helen Cortade, who received a Michigan master’s degree in the 1920s.