Winter Commencement Returns to In-Person Celebration

The University will honor more than 400 members of the Class of 2021 as it returns to an in-person format for the annual winter commencement ceremony.

Commencement will be held Friday, Dec. 17, at 11 a.m. in the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. A baccalaureate Mass will be celebrated prior to the ceremony at 9 a.m. in the University Chapel.

President Ken Gormley, who will preside at the ceremony, will present Cynthia Citrone with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Citrone, founder and chief executive officer of the Citrone 33 Foundation, also will deliver the commencement address.

Duquesne is deeply involved with local communities, working side-by-side to address systemic challenges in health, education, access and more. Similarly, Citrone—a mother of four, breast cancer survivor and former pediatric occupational therapist—works to expand access to health care and education. The Citrone 33 Foundation is a strategic collective that focuses on philanthropy, thoughtful investing and social movements. Through the Foundation, Citrone and her husband examine the needs and resources of communities and invest in education, health and human services programs. The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, the Milken Institute and Headspace are among the Citrone 33 Foundation’s collaborators and leading partners.

In addition, Citrone has established community programs including the Starzl Network for Pediatric Transplantation at Children’s Hospital and EMBRACE Pittsburgh. With the help of its partnership with the Jed Foundation, the Citrone 33 Foundation launched Unpack U, a Pittsburgh-based platform that addresses and provides resources to foster mental health in higher education by meeting students wherever they may be—in their residence halls, at home, on Zoom or social media.

President Gormley will give a brief presidential address during commencement followed by the conferral of degrees.

For more information, visit the University’s commencement website.