Photo: Bryan Goodchild
The UMass Chan Medical School community will officially start the 2026 academic year with its weeklong Convocation celebration taking place Sept. 11-17.
Most events will be held in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium and do not require registration unless otherwise noted.
Festivities kick off on Friday, Sept. 11, with the T.H. Chan School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony, welcoming the new class of medical students into the medical community. The event emphasizes the importance of both scientific excellence and compassionate patient care. A white coat is placed on each student’s shoulders by two people: an individual significant in the student’s personal and/or professional development, chosen by the student, and the student’s Learning Community mentor, who represents the value system of the Medical School and the profession the students are about to enter. The ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester.
Incoming T.H. Chan School of Medicine students were given tickets for their families and friends. Any other UMass Chan community member who wishes to attend can pick up tickets at the Office of Student Life.
On Monday, Sept. 14, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing students in the Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) program will be ceremonially presented with their nursing pins and welcomed into the nursing profession by campus leaders. The program begins at 5 p.m.
The GEP program, for individuals with baccalaureate degrees in fields other than nursing, leads first to registered nurse licensure and then to advanced nursing specialties. The pinning ceremony symbolizes completion of the courses required for taking the nursing licensure exam.
At noon on Tuesday, Sept. 15, the 14th annual LGBTQ+ Convocation Celebration, sponsored by the Diversity and Inclusion Office, will be held virtually. The keynote speaker is E. Kale Edmiston, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences, a neuroscientist specializing in social and emotional processing and perception.
Also on Sept. 15, second-year Doctor of Nursing Practice students from the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing who are entering their clinical years will be presented with their white coats during the Transition into Clinical Practice ceremony. The white coat is a symbol of humanism, collaboration and scientific excellence in healthcare. The event starts at 4 p.m.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences community will recognize the accomplishments of its future colleagues. The Recognition Ceremony salutes students who have successfully completed their qualifying exam and are proceeding with thesis research in the lab of their faculty advisor, an important milestone in the educational and professional development of basic science and clinical research graduate students signifying the transition from classroom-based learning to candidacy for a doctoral degree. The Recognition Ceremony starts at 3 p.m.
On Thursday, Sept. 17, starting at 4 p.m., Chancellor David D. McManus will present his first Convocation address to the UMass Chan community in a ceremony celebrating faculty. The inaugural Chancellor’s Medal for Academic Citizenship will be presented, as well as Chancellor’s Medals for Distinguished Teaching, Distinguished Scholarship, Distinguished Service and Distinguished Clinical Excellence.
