More than 2,500 graduates participate in UH Mānoa commencement

Graduates move their tassels over.

Link to Video and Sound: https://go.hawaii.edu/278

WHAT: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2025 Spring Commencement ceremonies

WHO: Just over 2,538 graduates, including 2,319 undergraduates and 538 graduate students receiving their master’s and doctoral degrees, celebrated their achievements alongside thousands of proud family members, friends, and UH Mānoa faculty, staff, and administrators.

WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center with lei giving at Ching Athletic Complex and Les Murakami Stadium fields

WHEN: Saturday, May 17, 2025, morning ceremony: 9 a.m. afternoon ceremony: 3:30 p.m.

ADDITIONAL FACTS:

• Olympic gold medalist and five time world champion surfer Carrissa Moore was the commencement speaker
• This was the first UH Mānoa commencement for UH President Wendy Hensel, who took office on January 1, 2025.
• The final UH Mānoa commencement for Michael Bruno as Provost. Bruno, who has served in the role since 2019, will return to the faculty on July 1, 2025.
• UH Mānoa offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs.
• Ranked among the top 2% of universities globally, UH Mānoa is one of just 146 R1 (Research 1: Doctoral Universities) institutions in the U.S. (out of more than 2,800 universities and colleges), and one of a select few with sun-, land-, sea-, and space-grant designations.
• UH Mānoa's fall 2024 enrollment surpassed 20,000 (20,028) for the first time since 2013
• The campus also welcomed a record 3,123 first-time freshmen, marking the third consecutive year with more than 3,000 incoming freshmen.
• Founded in 1907, UH Mānoa is the oldest and flagship campus of the 10-campus UH system.
• Spring commencements are taking place across the UH system, beginning with UH West Oʻahu on Saturday, May 10, and continuing with Kapiʻolani CC, Kauaʻi CC, Honolulu CC, Leeward CC, and Windward CC on Friday, May 16, before concluding today, Saturday, May 17, with UH Mānoa and UH Hilo.

VIDEO: B-roll— trt 1:55

• Various shots of morning commencement ceremony 
• Lei giving with family and friends

SOUNDBITES:

McKenzie Kurosu -  2025 UH Mānoa graduate (12 seconds)

“UH Mānoa has given me so many opportunities from internships to student work opportunities and just being able to get immersed into my passions and what I like to do, and I'm just overall so grateful for everything.”

Quentin Shores - 2025 UH Mānoa graduate (10 seconds)

“To be honest, going to UH Mānoa was probably the best decision I've ever made. I'm only, like, 21 years old, but I've made like all my best friends here, everybody that I know and care about came from here.” 

Wendy Hensel - UH President (12 seconds)

“It is such a special time of year, always, but really so this year since it's my first as president of the system. And seeing the joy on the faces of our graduates and the excitement about the future is just unmatched.”