COMMENCEMENT ACTIVITIES
MAY 22, 2011
INSTRUCTIONS TO GRADUATES

Graduates,

Graduation ceremonies are approaching - how exciting!  The College views this as the most important day of the year and we all look forward to celebrating your accomplishments on May 22, 2011.  Below you will find information to help make Commencement and Baccalaureate cherished and memorable experiences for you, your family members and guests.

Congratulations!

Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

General Information

Senior Night

There will be a Senior Night on May 10, 2011 in the Campus Center from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., where you can pick up your cap and gown, commencement tickets, meal tickets, as well as other events.

Service Locations

Both services, Baccalaureate and Commencement, are held in Shirk Stadium. 

Reserved Seating Tickets

Commencement tickets can be picked up at the Campus Center Main desk after May 10, 2011 and through graduation day.  Each graduate will receive four reserved seat tickets for turf seating and up to ten tickets for stadium seating.

Closed Circuit TV

Guests also may view the Commencement ceremony in Memorial Chapel, via closed circuit TV.

Breakfast and Lunch Tickets Available (free for graduates)

Breakfast:   Served 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the Dining Hall                 Price: $5.00 (children under 5 are free)
Lunch:         Served 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Kelchner Field        Price: $8.00 (children under 5 are free) 

Visitors, guests and graduating seniors are invited for breakfast and lunch on Commencement Day; tickets required.  Tickets are available at the Cashier’s window in the Administration Building until May 19, 2011.  Tickets also will be available on the day of graduation prior to Baccalaureate inside Shirk Stadium and in the Campus Center.  Only cash or checks will be accepted.

The Albright faculty host the lunch and extend a special invitation to all graduates to attend.  Faculty will be seated by discipline so that you can easily find them.  This is an opportunity to visit with and say good-bye to your favorite faculty.  The faculty very much look forward to seeing you and your guests there.

In order to best meet the needs of family members or guests who have disabilities or require special attention, please contact Susan Miller at 7654 or smiller@alb.edu by May 18, 2011 so that we can make appropriate arrangements.

If someone in your immediate family (father, mother, brother, sister) is an Albright alumnus/alumna and would like to greet you after you receive your diploma, please contact the Albright Alumni Office at 610-921-7510 or alumni@alb.edu by May 19, 2011.

In the event of severe inclement weather, please check the Albright website or call 610-921-7800 to hear an announcement with instructions. Students signed up for the E2Campus text messaging system will receive a text message. You will be requested to report to the Life Sports Center on the 3rd floor of the gym. Follow the signs and instructions of marshals when you arrive at the building.

Although this is a day of celebration, we ask you to be respectful of the ceremonies, your fellow graduates and those attending.  No behaviors that disrupt the ceremony will be allowed.

Since this venerable and traditional interfaith service gives graduates and their families a chance to gather together, worship, celebrate and reflect on the future, all graduates are expected to attend the Baccalaureate Service.   No tickets are required for guests. 

Spiked heels are not allowed.  Flowers and decorative jewelry should not be attached to the academic gown.  Women should not pin their caps, as they will need to be removed during the ceremony. Please wear the cap properly, with the

tassel on the right side of the cap until your degree has been confirmed at Commencement.

9:45 a.m. –      The processional begins. Follow the directions from the marshals.  Once the service begins, men are requested to remove their cap for the entire service.

Remain standing for the invocation.  Follow the Order of Service carefully as indicated in your program.

Hooding instructions follow:

1. Graduates rise as complete rows at signal from one of the faculty marshals starting with first row on east side, and each graduate places hood over the right arm.

2. Each row moves to the outside aisle and front to riser in single file.

3. Each graduate stops in front of his or her respective hooder, hands hood to hooder, and turns to face the audience.  In unison, from the rear, the faculty members place the hoods over the graduates’ heads and adjust folds in back.

4. When all have received hoods, the faculty member at extreme west will tap the graduate in front of him/her on shoulder, and following this graduate, all will return to their seats, single file. The marshals will direct each group back to the proper row and all will be seated.

5. The only changes for the west rows are that each graduate places hood over the left arm when going forward; the first graduate in each row stops in front of faculty member at extreme east.  Following the hooding, this same graduate will lead the row back to their seats via the center aisle.

1:15 p.m. –      Graduates report, with cap and gown, to the Campus Center (In case of inclement weather, report to the Life Sports Center at 1:15 p.m.; see note above.) The marshals will direct the formation of the line for the processional.  The order of march will be faculty, administrators, trustees, platform party, who will form a double line through which the graduates will pass in A.B. - B.S. alphabetical order.

It is essential that you keep your place in line and remain in the order in which you are listed and announced to the president. This order is most important because your names will be called in alphabetical order when you are presented to Dr. McMillan for your diploma.

2:15 p.m. –      Processional begins. Follow the directions of marshals.  Remain standing for the “National Anthem” and “Invocation.”  Men remove their caps for the National Anthem, invocation prayer, benediction and Alma Mater.

The method of conferring degrees and presentation of diplomas is as follows:

1. The class as a whole will remain seated.

2. Candidates for the A.B. degree will rise as a group when the Provost says:  “Will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts please rise?”  Your group will remain standing at your seats while the Provost recommends you to the President for your degree.

3. As soon as President McMillan has conferred your degree upon you as a group, all will be seated.  Each row in your group will rise and proceed in alphabetical order to the right side of the platform (as you face it).  Keep at least three feet behind the person in front of you.  There should only be three people on the ramp at any given time:  one at the base, one at the midpoint, and one at the top.

4. When you reach the platform, pause at the top of the ramp for a moment while your name is being announced to the audience.  You will then proceed across the platform to the President. The President will then give you your diploma, which you will take in your left hand as you shake hands with your right.

5. You will then continue across the platform and return to your seat following the marshals’’ directions.  You may be seated immediately.

6. The same procedure will then be followed by the B.S. group in order.

7. Once all degrees have been conferred, instructions will be delivered by the class officers to switch the tassel on the cap to the LEFT.

The Housing office will remain open on graduation day until 7:00 p.m. for check out.