Etiquette
Ceremony etiquette
University commencement ceremonies are special events for all involved. Please show respect for everyone who has come to share in the experience.
Noise Reduction
Please turn off your cellular phones. Cowbells, air horns, whistles, and other loud artificial noisemakers are prohibited.
Families are asked to withhold applause or loud celebrations during the announcement of graduate names so that we don’t prevent any family’s ability to hear clearly. Please refrain from using any noisemaker items or causing distractions that prevent others from enjoying the ceremony. We will collectively congratulate all graduates after all names have been read.
As a courtesy to other audience members, please be aware that sound reverberates in a gymnasium, magnifying even the slightest noise. Please keep movement to a minimum.
We respectfully ask that younger children not be brought to the ceremony since they can become restless and disruptive. Also, no baby strollers are permitted inside the Convocation Center.
Photography
Please do not step into the aisle during the processional or recessional or rush across the stage to take photographs. If they attempt this, the marshals will be instructed to return guests to their seats.
During Commencement, professional photographers from Grad Images will take photographs throughout the evening. Multiple individual shots of graduates will be taken during the ceremony, which graduates can purchase later. The Alumni Office is pleased to provide a complimentary photograph of each graduate, which will be mailed approximately four weeks after the ceremony.
Additional photos will be available for purchase online at www.gradimages.com.
Food and Beverages
No food or beverages are permitted in the Convocation Center during the graduation ceremony.
The ceremony format
The commencement ceremony is an evening of special achievement and recognition of our graduates. We hope you will find these ceremonies—a culmination of the efforts of faculty, staff, and, of course, our students and their families—both meaningful and impressive.
The program will begin with an academic procession to the platform. You are asked to rise as the procession enters and remain standing until the platform party has taken its place, the colors are presented, the National Anthem is sung, and the invocation has been given.
After the ceremony and benediction, platform guests will be the first to exit, followed by faculty. We ask that you remain standing throughout the recessional in respect for the students graduating this evening.