Information for Graduates

Version 05/26/2023. This page will be updated as needed prior to the ceremony.

Details and Links

• Graduation Application (required in order to be awarded your degree and to participate in the commencement ceremony)
• Requesting Accommodation or ASL Interpreters (Deadline: Friday, May 26, 2023)
• Announcements, Diploma Frames, Class Rings
• Hometown News Release
• L&C Bookstore pop-up throughout the ceremony at the Pamplin Gym information desk.

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Commencement Day Schedule for Graduates

9:00 a.m. — Arrival and Check In

• Report to Stamm Dining Hall, with regalia, by 9:00 a.m. (Family and friends, including children, will go to Pamplin Gym to await the start of the ceremony.)
  • General parking is available inside Gates 2, 5, 6, and 8. Shuttle service is also available to the parking lots inside Gates 2, 5, and 6, and Pamplin Gym from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
  • The Gate 6 stop is also the shuttle drop-off and pick-up point for the after-reception on the graduate campus.
  • Parking inside Gate 7 on the Graduate Campus is reserved for those who have requested mobility accommodations (West Parking Loop), the food trucks for the reception, and graduate school faculty and staff participating in the event (East Parking Loop). General parking is available inside Gate 8.
• Do not bring purses, bags, et cetera, as secure storage will NOT be available during the commencement ceremony.
• Regalia: Wear your cap, tassel to the left, and gown and carry your master’s, specialist, or doctoral hood on your left arm, velvet back, point in. There will be a hooding ceremony on stage during the commencement ceremony.
• Name Card: When you check in, you will receive a card with your name. Hold onto the card throughout the early part of the ceremony. During the hooding and awarding of degrees you will hand your name card to name reader on stage, so that they can formally announce you as a candidate for graduation.
• Line-Up: Student marshals (faculty) and staff from the graduate registrar’s office will assist graduates in lining up by degree program.

9:50 a.m. — Processional

• At the direction of the student marshals, graduates will march from Stamm Dining Hall to Pamplin Gym, led by the mace bearer. Graduate faculty members and the platform party’s distinguished guests will also march in the processional. 

Mid-ceremony — Conferring of Degrees and the Hooding Ceremony

• Following the opening comments and speeches, Dean Scott Fletcher will ask graduates to stand. President Robin Holmes-Sullivan will confer the degrees, then Dean Fletcher will ask graduates to come forward at the direction of the student marshals.
  • Master’s degree graduates will be the first group to cross the stage followed by the educational specialist and doctoral degrees graduates. EdS and EdD candidates can remain seated while awaiting their turn to cross the stage. (All candidates will approach the stage at the direction of the student marshals.)
  • Family and friends, including children, should remain at their seats to celebrate as their graduate crosses the stage. 
• At the direction of the student marshals, graduates will move to the stage by degrees and rows. The student marshals will instruct each row when it is time to proceed toward the stage.
  • If you have lost your name card, a staff member will be stationed between at the top of the ramp with cards and pens so that you can fill out a new one. Please make every effort to not lose your name card.
  • When you are the next graduate in line, stop at the lectern of the name reader and give them your name card. 
• Once your name is read, proceed across the stage to the Dean or faculty member for hooding. Turn to face the audience and the Dean or faculty member will hood you. Proceed across the stage.
• President Holmes-Sullivan will next hand you your diploma cover and a photo will be taken. Proceed across the stage to receive the congratulations of the commencement speaker and member of the board of trustees.
• Proceed off the stage where a photo in front of a Lewis & Clark backdrop will be taken.
• You will be directed back to your seat by a student marshal.
• When you return to your seat after hooding and receiving your diploma cover, you may be seated.

Special Note Regarding Handshakes and Hooding

For graduates unable to shake hands and/or to be hooded by Dean Scott Fletcher:

• When your name is called by the name reader, move forward handing your hood to Associate Dean Janet Bixby and ask her to perform the hooding.
• Once hooded, move forward to President Holmes-Sullivan.
• Accept your diploma cover and hold it with both hands.
• Greet, such as with a nod, the commencement speaker, board of trustees representative, and other platform party members while holding your diploma with both hands.
• Exit the stage for photos.

12:00 p.m. — The Recessional (approximate time)

• At the conclusion of the ceremony and at the direction of the student marshals, graduates will recess out of Pamplin Sports Center Gym following the platform party and faculty.

After-Reception, Graduate Campus (after the recessional; around 12 p.m.)

• A complimentary or free reception featuring local food trucks including Fifty Licks Ice Cream, Tamale Boy, Phat Cart, Pip’s Original Donuts, and The Whole Bowl will be held on the Graduate Campus immediately following the ceremony.
• Shuttle service is available to the parking lots inside Gates 2, 5, and 6, and Pamplin Gym from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
• The Gate 6 stop is also the shuttle drop-off and pick-up point for the after-reception on the graduate campus.
• Parking inside Gate 7 on the Graduate Campus is reserved for those who have requested mobility accommodations (West Parking Loop), the food trucks for the reception, and graduate school faculty and staff participating in the event (East Parking Loop). General parking is available inside Gate 8.

Diploma Pick Up and Regalia Return

Immediately following the ceremony, May diplomas may be picked up and rental and robe back regalia may be returned to the Graduate Registrar’s office (Rogers Hall, Room 301). Regalia may also be donated to the robe back; donation receipts will be provided by Lewis & Clark Institutional Advancement. Additional information on diplomas can be found here.