Main Commencement Ceremony

Seating

Due to the large crowd anticipated for Commencement, campus parking will be filled early. Our recommendation is that you arrive before 7:00 a.m.

Tickets are not required for admission to the main ceremony, but seating is limited. Special seating for guests with disabilities, including those requiring sign language interpreting or captioning assistance, will be designated by signs in Alumni Memorial Park. Due to space limitations, we ask that only one family member accompany the guest with disabilities into this special seating area.

All guests are requested to be in their seats before 8:15 a.m. and are asked not to sit in the sections reserved for faculty and the graduating students. Guests are also requested to refrain from standing in the aisles during the ceremony and from using cell phones.

The map below shows the seating arrangements. The letters correspond to the Procession Assembly and Satellite Ceremony chart.

Procession and Protocol

Candidates for degrees are to assemble promptly by 8:00 a.m. Refer to the links above for seating and assembly points. White signs will indicate these assembly areas around Alumni Memorial Park. Promptly at 8:30 a.m. the commencement marshals will lead the columns of degree candidates to reserved seating sections in Alumni Memorial Park. During the procession, march briskly and follow the instructions of the commencement marshals.

The faculty and Ph.D. candidates will assemble inside Bovard Auditorium at 8:00 a.m.

The academic party will arrive on the platform at 9:00 a.m., and the One Hundred Twenty-Fifth Commencement Exercise will begin.

The cap should be worn at all times, except during the invocation, benediction and the playing of the National Anthem, when gentlemen remove their caps. The tassel is customarily worn over the right temple. Upon conferral of degrees, the President will salute the graduates. It is appropriate for the graduates to return the salute by tipping their cap. The tassel should then be moved to the left temple.

The main ceremony will end at approximately 10:10 a.m. The graduates and audience will please remain in place until the platform party has passed in recession. The audience will continue to remain in place while the graduates are led in the recessional march by the Commencement marshals. At this point, most graduates will process immediately to their satellite ceremonies for individual recognition. Be sure to check the time and location of the graduate's satellite ceremony to plan ahead.