# 'Share Your Joy with Others': Celebrating 2023 Commencement June 01, 2023 ![Dean Hempton and students walking to the HDS campus](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds2/files/commencement-walk-news-600x400.jpg?itok=x5f_wBq4) Dean Hempton, left, walks with students to the HDS campus on May 25, 2023. / Photo: Annette Yoshiko Reed, HDS Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity *"On this joyous day, surrounded by your loved ones, I hope and pray this is the kind of love that will propel you forward, through your certainties and uncertainties, through the rest of our lives."—Class Speaker Breana Norris, MTS '23* On May 24-25, Harvard Divinity School and Harvard University celebrated Commencement. At HDS, 149 degrees were awarded to graduating students. Below is a selection of photos featuring our new graduates with their fellow students, proud family members and friends, staff, and alumni. For more pictures of 2023 Commencement, please visit [HDS on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/harvarddivinity/). ![Dean David Hempton](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0069.jpg?itok=aAZ8nA0O) "Someday, when you get the chance to hold the hand of a dear child you care about, or one of your own beloved children or grandchildren, make sure you can look them in the eye and know that they can trust you to keep them safe in both small things and big things. Spending your time in soulful stewardship of this beautiful, broken world—and offering your hand—changes everything. There is no better use of your time. It will save you." ([Full remarks](https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/05/24/moment-saving-time-and-saving-ourselves)) *Dean David N. Hempton was the faculty speaker during the Multireligious Commencement Service on May 24, 2023. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Kevin Ross, MRPL ’23](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0089.jpg?itok=q4yh926n) *From the Traditions of the African Diaspora, Calling Upon the Ancestors: A Libation, with Kevin Ross, MRPL ’23 / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Sophia Doescher, MDiv ’23, and Nicole Newell, MDiv candidate, perform ](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0201.jpg?itok=BYxGIgV0) *Sophia Doescher, MDiv ’23, and Nicole Newell, MDiv candidate, perform "A Parting Blessing" during the Multireligious Commencement Service on May 24, 2023. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Commencement Mortar Board](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052523jk_9552_0045.jpg?itok=wwafP_AU) *A graduating MTS student dons a festive mortar board. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Atéha Bailly, MDiv ’23, and Isaiah Briggs, MDiv candidate, perform “In Your Hands” at the Multireligious Commencement Service. / Photo credit: Justin Knight](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0108.jpg?itok=i9DpxQrN) *Isaiah Briggs, MDiv candidate, and Atéha Bailly, MDiv ’23, perform “In Your Hands” at the Multireligious Commencement Service. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Jenn Louie, MRPL ’23](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0164.jpg?itok=OZdVWP8m) *From Those Redefining Religious Affiliation, “Song of the Soul” by Khalil Gibran, read by Jenn Louie, MRPL ’23. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Teddy Hickman-Maynard, Associate Dean for Ministry Studies](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0213.jpg?itok=N4Bf6u2l) *Teddy Hickman-Maynard, Associate Dean for Ministry Studies, performs “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![HDS faculty line up and applaud new HDS graduates.](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0226.jpg?itok=X68oAbAw) *HDS faculty line up to applaud new graduates and welcome them to the Harvard alumni community. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Students gathered on the steps of the Swartz Hall steps before the official class portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0234.jpg?itok=aCd_EERY) *Annual class photo, BEFORE...* ![Students and faculty gather on the steps of Swartz Hall for the annual class photo](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052423jk_9551_0245.jpg?itok=AaWM2A1J) *...and AFTER. / Photo: Justin Knight* ![Tracey Hucks and Melissa Bartholomew at HDS Commencement on May 25, 2023](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/05252023-diplomacommencement23_amie-13.jpg?itok=HC9767Xb) *Tracey Hucks, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Africana Religious Studies at HDS, and Melissa Barthomew, Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, at HDS Commencement activities on May 25, 2023. / Photo: Amie Montemurro* ![Breana Norris, MTS '23, delivers the Student Commencement Address on May 25. / Photo: Justin Knight](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hds2/files/052523jk_9552_0103.jpg?itok=J_zVr_b7) "Amongst our University’s esteemed future doctors and lawyers, politicians and businesspeople, educators and engineers, we at the Divinity School are often saddled with a discomfort in the ambiguity of our degree, sometimes stumped when asked what will you do next? Grounded in love, I find these questions change: not what will you do after here but how will you do it? Not what, but why? Not what, but with whom by your side?" ([Full remarks](https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/05/25/love-grounds)) *Breana Norris, MTS '23, delivers the Student Commencement Address on May 25. / Photo: Justin Knight* See also:- [ Commencement ](/topic-tags/commencement) - [ Commencement 2023 ](/topic-tags/commencement-2023)