Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and Pratt School of Engineering students pop the corks on their champagne bottles during a graduation photo session on Chapel Drive.
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and Pratt School of Engineering students pop the corks on their champagne bottles during a graduation photo session on Chapel Drive.

Graduation Requirements: The Cap & Gown Photo

Graduation Requirements: The Cap & Gown Photo

There are only so many variations of a graduation photo, but they’re still among the most memorable images of a Duke experience. Friends come together in Duke Gardens or in front of Duke Chapel. They laugh, mug for the camera, toss their caps. Sometimes they even sprint. This year, their videos capture one difference: the hum of the cicadas.

Yet, for the students in these photos, there are evocations of four years of memories, of friendships and of final moments together before departing the campus and beginning a new journey.

A group of Duke Law School students pose for pictures in front of Duke Chapel.
Above, A group of Duke Law School students pose for pictures in front of Duke Chapel. Right, tossing the caps in front of the chapel.
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and Pratt School of Engineering students toss their caps during a graduation photo session in front of the Chapel.
Amber Miranda, Mackenzie Culp and Betty Alfaro pose for graduation photos in front of Duke Chapel.
Above, Amber Miranda, Mackenzie Culp and Betty
Alfaro in front of Duke Chapel. Middle, Yan Lu, an environmental engineering major, takes photos of her friend. Right, four students look at their graduation photos. Right bottom, law students pose for their photo.
Yan Lu, an environmental engineering major, takes photos of her friend
four students look at their photos
Duke Law School students pose for pictures in front of the Chapel arcade.
A group of Duke Law School students were asked to jog toward the camera during a graduation photo session in front of the Chapel arcade - one sprinted.
A group of Duke Law School students were asked to jog toward the camera during a graduation photo session in front of the Chapel arcade - one sprinted.