Commencement isn’t just about honoring the achievements of graduating students – it’s also a fantastic opportunity to capture engaging social media content. If you’re looking for inspiration for your next commencement campaign, you’re in the right place, because we’ve rounded up 10 recent standout examples. Let’s get into it.
1. Harvard University: Tease Commencement Ahead of the Big Day
With all the excitement swirling around, it can often feel like commencement is over in a flash. But interest extends a lot further than the day itself.
For instance, Google Trends shows us that for Harvard University, search activity around its 2025 commencement built throughout April before peaking on May 29, the date of its commencement ceremony:
As such, it makes sense for Harvard – and every other school – to post commencement-related content ahead of the occasion.
Sharing images and videos of your preparations for the big day is an easy win. Think lots of shots of empty chairs, school banners, and commencement memorabilia. Harvard got it right in this teaser video, shared two days before commencement on Instagram Reels:
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It’s a pretty simple post, yet at the time of writing, it’s racked up 350,000+ views, showing how much interest you can generate from commencement-themed content.
2. Lincoln Trail College: Share Event Highlights
In the same way that you should be sharing content about commencement in the buildup to the big day, it also makes sense to extend the event’s lifespan by posting highlights a day or two later.
That’s precisely what Lincoln Trail College did in this post, shared three days after the ceremony, and incorporating clips from its various commencement speakers:
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This post has clocked up close to 5,000 views at the time of writing. That’s a small number by the standards of many schools, but remember that Lincoln Trail has an enrollment of around 600 students and fewer than 1,200 followers on Instagram. In that context, it’s pretty impressive!
3. Johnson & Wales University: Showcase Student Speakers
Student speakers will naturally play a major role in your commencement content. But rather than simply sharing clips of their speeches as part of a highlights reel, why not take a leaf from the book of Johnson & Wales University by sharing behind-the-scenes footage of their preparation for the ceremony?
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The BTS format is a fantastic way to remind followers that giving a commencement speech can be a nerve-wracking experience and that a ton of hard work goes into getting it right. This makes you want to root for the speakers, naturally encouraging you to keep watching the video.
4. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences: Share Profiles of Key Players
Sticking with the theme of commencement speeches, another smart play is to profile your speakers so audiences know what to expect on the day itself. For instance, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences shared the following profile for its 2025 featured speaker, Dr Levon T Esters:
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But that’s not all, because the school also posted profiles of other key commencement day players, including Jasmine Mackley as college marshal.
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Plus, they featured a further eight students acting as department marshals for the occasion:
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It’s an effective way to celebrate those chosen students’ academic achievements while building excitement ahead of commencement day.
5. Wellesley College: Publish Quotes from Commencement Speeches
Creating themes for social media posts and captions can be tough; sometimes, those creative juices just aren’t flowing. So be sure to take advantage when you’ve got a ready-made content source to lean on.
Commencement speeches are just such a source. They’re often packed full of inspirational quotes, which makes them perfect for repackaging as social media content, just like in this example from Wellesley College:
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It’s a super simple format – just a single image of the speaker, Nehal Farghaly, alongside an excerpt from her speech. You could easily share two or three separate posts like this every commencement day, or bundle all your favorite quotes together in a single Reel or carousel.
6. The University of Alabama at Birmingham: Provide Valuable Information
Of course, there’s more to higher ed commencement campaigns than generating as much engagement as possible.
Your social media channels are also one of the best ways to keep commencement attendees up to date on the ceremony itself, from timings to event parking to what you can (and can’t) bring. The University of Alabama at Birmingham wrapped up all those key details in a single Instagram caption accompanied by a carousel of images from previous commencements:
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This approach helps you build anticipation for commencement while also helping to ensure that the day goes smoothly and everyone leaves happy.
7. Bucknell University: Share Student Stories
For graduating students, commencement is the first day of the rest of their lives. Remind them (and your other followers) by asking some of those students to share their plans, whether they’re pursuing a PhD or a Master’s degree, or taking their first step on the career ladder.
Here’s an example of how that could look courtesy of Bucknell University:
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In addition to honoring the success of these students, this type of content acts as an excellent case study for your school. After all, for most students, the whole point of going to college is to get a good job.
8. Vassar College: Create a Commencement Carousel
Here’s a simple one for you.
Graduating students (and their friends and family) will want to see pictures of themselves at commencement. So it makes sense to share all your favorite imagery from the day in a single carousel post, just like Vassar did here:
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Also, note how the caption steers followers toward the link in bio for other related content, including articles, photos, and videos. This is a smart way to use commencement to drive traffic to your website and other social channels.
9. The University of Kansas: Post Student-Generated Content
A lot is happening during commencement day – so much that you and your team can’t hope to capture everything yourselves. Fortunately, you don’t need to, because you can encourage attendees to send in their own user-generated content (UGC) for you to share after the event.
Just like the University of Kansas did in our next example.
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UGC doesn’t just save you time. It also helps you give followers a more authentic view of your commencement ceremony. And it’s also a big hit with audiences, 81% of whom say user-generated video is more trustworthy than professionally created brand or influencer content.
This explains why 56% of brands say they’re focusing on generating more user-generated content.
📚 Further reading: 20 Examples of UGC in Higher Education
10. Purdue University: Celebrate School History
While commencement is very much about the present, it also provides an opportunity to share stories about your school’s past.
Take the following commencement campaign from Purdue University, focusing on a single campus home and its latest batch of graduates, along with former student and resident John Durniak, who graduated way back in 1950:
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As well as celebrating the success of those five current-day grads, this post does a great job of recognizing Purdue’s 150+ years of history and tradition.
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Featured image by Pixabay.
