A smiling man in formal academic regalia, including a black doctoral gown with velvet panels and chevrons in red and green, a black tam with a gold tassel, and a ceremonial medallion with gold medallions hanging from a black and gold-trimmed stole. The background is a solid dark color.
To WesternU’s Class of 2025,

A lifetime of hard work, dedication and determination has brought each of you to this pivotal moment in your life. Congratulations on a job well done!

I encourage you to celebrate this achievement with all those who helped you reach this extraordinary milestone — family, friends, fellow students, faculty, staff, and mentors.

Commencement is the acme for our entire University. We celebrate the effort and success of some 1,000 students poised to join their colleagues among the health professions. We revel in the joy and excitement of our graduates, their families and loved ones, and the entire WesternU community who supported you along the way.

Your education prepares you to enhance and extend the quality of life in our communities. The protection and improvement of public health is “what we do.” There is no better testament to our mission than your ambassadorship!

The Class of 2025 exemplifies all the qualities that make WesternU a special place, and your institutional legacy is assured to be forever known as a class that persevered through a worldwide pandemic and prevailed! As a WesternU graduate, you are prepared to embody humanism through caring, respect, empathy, trust, and inclusion of all you serve.

Commencement celebrates the important end to one part of your education, but it also means “a beginning or start.” You will learn a great deal more as you take your place among the healers of the world, with all the opportunities and responsibilities inherent to the role. Your skilled hands and compassionate hearts will foster wellness for individuals and communities the world over.

I am honored to officiate — and celebrate — this Commencement with you. I very much look forward to hearing of your many accomplishments as one of our alumni.

Again, congratulations as you embark upon a bright future!

My very warmest wishes to each one of you, and know that you will forever be a part of the WesternU family!

Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA
President, Western University of Health Sciences

Commencement History

WesternU’s annual Commencement ceremonies play an important role in the culture and traditions of the University. Established in 1977, WesternU now spans two states, California and Oregon. During the ceremonies, the University marshal, bearing the University mace, proudly starts the ceremony by leading the graduands into the auditorium. Faculty and administration soon follow and take their place in the auditorium, eager to welcome their newest peers into the professional world of medicine.  As WesternU continues to grow and evolve, these traditions honor its rich history and inspire future opportunities.

Video Archive
Tradition

ACADEMIC REGALIA

Discover the history of academic regalia, the president’s distinct attire, and the significance of your graduate's gown and hood colors.

Regalia worn in procession today trace origins to medieval universities, when all faculty were in religious orders and obliged to be properly gowned. Beyond ecclesiastical functions, robes marked clerics from the lay populace and also served well in unheated buildings of the day...

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POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE

We invite you to explore the key ceremonial elements of WesternU’s events, which embody our rich history and honored traditions.

Maces date from at least 1200 as heavy weapons borne by Sergeants-at-Arms meant to protect the King’s person. By the 14th century maces had become purely ceremonial, and increasingly decorative, symbols of royal or other institutional authority. The University Mace is a…

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LOOKING BACK

Explore WesternU’s rich history of inspirational keynote speakers, from Dixon Arnett in 1982 to Oregon’s first woman governor, Barbara Roberts, in 2019- WesternU has been privileged to host years of inspirational and influential speakers!

Each year, hundreds of graduates leave Commencement with the keynote address fresh in their minds. WesternU prides itself on providing these future medical professionals with a message that will resonate for years to come.

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