In the weeks leading up to commencement, what should feel like the proud finish line for Georgetown Law’s Class of 2026 has felt more like a fight.
The Law Center sent out an email announcing changes to its May graduation ceremony on Dec. 23, 2025, which involved the cancellation of small cohort ceremonies on the Capitol Campus. The beloved Graduation Gala was also cancelled, though most students were unaware that this decision occurred. This change disrupted months of planning and, for many students, was a disappointment after years of anticipation.
Student opposition began almost immediately after a town hall on Jan. 21 revealed the full extent of the changes. Shortly after, a petition was circulated with over 1,100 signatures. As graduation approaches, tense meetings with the senior administration have shown little promise, and a growing number of law students are now considering skipping their own graduation ceremony altogether.
Ceremony restructuring
Part of the petition expressed disappointment at the elimination of the Law Center’s cohort section ceremonies, which began in response to COVID-19 limitations. During the first year, students are placed into small communities based on chosen curriculum, with whom they typically celebrate the end of their educational journey.
Given its shorter duration, the section ceremony has been historically easier for the friends and families of graduating students to attend, according to Priya Agarwal (L ’26). Agarwal highlighted that sharing the moment with those special to the new graduates makes attending worthwhile.
“Not everyone could go to the Hilltop Campus because the Hilltop Campus is not super accessible, and that’s why the section ceremonies were so important to us, because we could bring our loved ones to that,” Agarwal said. “Graduation doesn’t really mean anything if we can’t have our loved ones there.”
In place of these section ceremonies, all graduates—juris doctors and LL.M.s combined—will be recognized in one large ceremony on Healy Lawn, the same venue that is used for Georgetown’s undergraduate commencement.
The email announcing these changes didn’t provide reasoning behind the choices. As students later learned, the original motivation for the change in commencement location was the planned demolition of the Gewirz Student Center on the Law Center campus, which would have made the campus’s green space unusable.
Despite the construction being postponed, the administration has not reverted to the original graduation format.
“The catalyst that was driving that change is not really there anymore, but they’re still insisting on moving forward with this plan,” Agarwal said. “And that’s not something that anybody really knew. I only know because the Student Bar Association president told me.”
It was additionally announced that, for the first time, the ceremony will use a software to read graduates’ names aloud. The software, developed by an EdTech company called Marching Order, has been confirmed to use an AI-based system.
No goodbye gala
The Graduation Gala has also been canceled, though this was never formally announced. The black-tie event, traditionally held the night before commencement at the National Portrait Gallery, has been regarded by students and alumni as one of the most meaningful traditions associated with Law Center graduation. In Agarwal’s view, much of the commencement controversy has centered around the cancellation of the gala, which has “really broken people’s hearts.”
In its place, students have been told to expect a “friends and family reception” at an undisclosed location, though many believe it will be held in the Law Center’s gym.
Students felt frustrated about the continued lack of notice from the administration regarding changes, with the only communication being updates on the commencement section of the Law School website. Even as recently as last week, Agarwal said that she had run into classmates who still didn’t know the gala had been canceled.
Limited accessibility on the Hilltop
Beyond the loss of a longstanding tradition, students have raised logistical concerns with the Hilltop ceremony. Georgetown’s Main Campus is notoriously hard to reach, as there is no Metro stop nearby, and the hilly terrain makes it particularly difficult for elderly guests or those with mobility limitations to navigate.
Students say seating will be insufficient. Agarwal estimated that shaded seating will only accommodate approximately 60-70% of attendees, leaving others with no choice but to stand directly in the sun for a ceremony that could last up to five hours.
Because of the inability of their loved ones to attend, some students are considering skipping their own law school graduation.
“Students said ‘If I can’t have my loved ones, if I can’t give them even a safe and comfortable seat to stay and watch me graduate after everything they’ve sacrificed to get me here. I don’t think that I can go to that ceremony,’” Agarwal said.
Yuning “David” Chen (L ’26), who attended meetings with the administration as a representative for international students, highlighted the financial challenges of attending a graduation. He emphasized that students’ loved ones are paying significant amounts of money to come to the nation’s capital, and for these students in particular, parents who are flying across the globe to celebrate the special moment are now being met with minimal festivities.
“A lot of the parents are wasting lots of money,” Chen said. “They’re flying into D.C. and they want to see a real celebration of what their kids achieved, and I think it doesn’t really seem like the law school is putting much thought into that.”
But Chen argued that the financial stakes don’t end with travel costs. As paying students, he said, the expectation of a meaningful graduation is a significant part of what the tuition buys.
“[Law Center students] have paid something like $86,000 a year to attend this school,” Chen said. “I think the minimum that they can expect from the school is to have their voices heard on graduation day, which is the one day in which they can say, ‘I did it. I’ve put in three years of hard work and now I can celebrate.’”
Chen noted that for many of his classmates, this is the only commencement that they will have. A large portion of students in the Law Center class of 2026 did not have a full undergraduate graduation due to limitations imposed by COVID-19.
For Lan-Phuong Tram (L ’26), the ceremony is closely tied to the sacrifices her family made for her to reach this lifelong goal. As someone with older parents who would be unable to access the Hilltop, Tram has decided not to attend the ceremony.
“I think that the ideal graduation would be held at Capitol Campus, not only because it’s more accessible, but also because that’s where we have spent the last three to four years of our lives,” Tram said.
To students like Tram, graduation is more than just a personal milestone, but the culmination of the sacrifices made across generations.
“I’m the first in my family to graduate from college. So for me, it’s not just about getting an education, it’s about honoring what your family gave up to get you here,” Tram said. “This has been a huge accomplishment in my life and my family.”
She described the informal ceremony she had planned for herself outside of Georgetown Law’s ceremony, including graduation photos, a walk to her elementary school, and her parents calling her name.
“I’m making my own magic,” she said.
The administration’s response
Student representatives, including Agarwal and Chen, met with Georgetown Law Interim Dean Josh Teitelbaum on March 11. Again on March 17, they met with the school’s Dean of Students, Mitch Bailan. They shared their concerns and presented alternative venues. At the second meeting, Agarwal and other student representatives brought with them a proposal for reinstating the Graduation Gala.
Their proposal included a secured venue booking and five self-negotiated catering quotes at a better rate than the school had paid in previous years.
Teitelbaum declined, citing equity concerns about additional costs that students said they had already addressed within the proposal.
Students also presented data from the petition, including personal messages from over 350 alumni who expressed that these changes reflected poorly on the institution.
The editors-in-chief of fourteen Georgetown Law journals also co-signed a statement endorsing the petition, raising particular concerns regarding the safety and accessibility of the Hilltop ceremony for guests with limited mobility.
Teitelbaum’s response, according to Agarwal, was that alumni and students have never been consulted in commencement planning and therefore do not need to be consulted now. When alerted that some soon-to-be graduates were debating skipping graduation, Agarwal said that his response was disheartening.
“[Teitelbaum’s] response was, ‘That would be a shame for them,’ not for the school, for them,” Agarwal said. “The Dean’s response to the petition has made a lot of people even more upset than they were before.”
In a comment to the Voice, Dean Teitelbaum said he was excited to celebrate the class of 2026, but he did not address the petition or any of the concerns raised during the meetings.
A bitter end for Georgetown Law students
Students and alumni are reconsidering not just their attendance at graduation, but their relationship with the institution. Several have noted that alumni who signed the petition explicitly stated that they wouldn’t donate to the Law Center if the changes were enacted.
“I really enjoyed my time here. I don’t want that to be soured by graduation,” Chen said. “But if they keep on with the present plans for graduation, it’s very hard not to be down by that.”
Similarly for Tram, these changes in commencement plans have tainted the conclusion to her years at Georgetown.
“It just feels like they’re trying to just shove us out as quickly as they can,” Tram said. “I think that the way that they have approached these changes is really what has left a sour taste in my mouth and many other graduates.”
Tram noted that the administration’s actions have changed her perception of the whole institution.
“It seems like no matter how many people voice their support, if it’s not what the administration has in mind, then it’s not going to change,” Tram said. “It’s really disappointing to see that this institution that has taught us how to advocate for others is surprised to see that so many of us are trying to advocate for ourselves.”
