Participate

We are excited to celebrate our Caltech 2021 graduates! Below are a few ways we can celebrate together even while we're apart.

Caltech's 2021 graduates have been invited to gather together on Caltech's South Athletic Field on Friday, June 11 for an outdoor livestream of Caltech's virtual 127th Commencement. This outdoor event is open only to graduating students who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (two weeks post the final vaccine dose).

To add to the celebratory experience, there will be on-site photobooths and a professional photographer from GradImages to capture cap and gown photos. The graduates celebrating at this event will join their fellow graduates celebrating around the globe for the virtual champagne toast with President Rosenbaum and Professor Faber following virtual commencement.

Nearly 200 graduating students have registered to attend the event. All 2021 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral candidates, who are fully vaccinated, are eligible to register to participate. Learn more about the event and register to attend.

We invite you to share words of congratulations, wisdom, well wishes, and encouragement through your personal social media accounts. Posts tagged with #Caltech2021 on Instagram and Twitter may be included on our virtual memory wall.

President Rosenbaum and Professor Faber would like to personally congratulate Caltech's 2021 Graduates. Please join us for a virtual toast to celebrate the new graduates and their families on Friday, June 11, 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., immediately after the virtual commencement ceremony. The virtual toast will take place on Zoom. Register to attend.

Want to host and organize your own watch party? We've provided some tips and best practices below.

• Use a platform you're comfortable with. We like Zoom, but there are other good options such as YouTube Watch Party—an extension for Google's Chrome browser. Tip: If you choose to Zoom, be sure to login with your access.caltech credentials at https://caltech.zoom.us or you'll be subject to Zoom's 40-minute meeting limit
• Schedule the "meeting" and invite your attendees. We strongly recommend using the password function to ensure only those registered attendees are joining your Watch Party.
• Encourage your attendees to join from a laptop or desktop computer, rather than a mobile device, for comfort during extended viewing/socializing
• Plan how you will watch. When it comes to the main event, watching the virtual Commencement ceremony, you have two options: everyone can watch on their own device in a second window alongside the video chat, or the host can queue up the YouTube Premiere and share their screen so all of the party attendees can see it in their video chat window
• Want to up your watch party game? Download and share these Zoom backgrounds so you can all virtually hang out on the Beckman Lawn, or any number of other favorite spots around Caltech's scenic campus.