Commencement 2019
Congratulations!
Commencement Day Instructions
When & Where Graduating Students Should Arrive
Commencement will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2019
Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
290 Northern Avenue, Boston

SBS students must arrive at the Pavilion by 8:00 a.m.
CAS students must arrive at the Pavilion by 12:45 p.m.

Students will enter the Pavilion through an entrance on the left of the Pavilion. There will be signs and Suffolk volunteers to guide you. Once you are inside, ushers will direct you to the appropriate student robing area. There will be separate undergraduate and graduate robing areas.

Please note that you must give your personal belongings to a family member or friend before you proceed to the robing area. We are not responsible for any personal items left in the robing areas.

Graduate Students: You must bring your regalia with you in order to be placed in the Processional line-up. You will receive your line-up card when you arrive at the robing area.

Undergraduate Students: You must bring your regalia and line-up card with you to be placed in the Processional line-up. You received your regalia and line-up card at Packet Pick-up.
When and Where Guests Should Arrive
Since the weather can change quickly at the outdoor Pavilion, please encourage your Commencement guests to dress accordingly for temperature and weather. Layers and comfortable shoes are best.

Upon entering, guests will receive a Commencement program and will be directed to the general seating area. Adjacent to the turnstiles, there will be a booth for those who may have questions or need special accommodations.

SBS Guests: Enter the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion through the main entrance, which will open at 8:15 a.m.

CAS Guests: Enter the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion through the main entrance, which will open at 12:45 p.m.

Will Call: If you made arrangements to pick up an extra ticket awarded to you through the ticket lottery, your ticket will be waiting for you at the Will-Call table located to the left of the Pavilion main entrance.
Balloons and Drones
Balloons are not allowed inside the Pavilion.

Drones are not permitted. Due to security rules inside the Pavilion and federal laws governing the use of drones within close proximity to Logan Airport, drones are not permitted inside or in the surrounding area around the Pavilion.
Undergraduate & Graduate Student Robing
Suffolk volunteers will be on hand to assist you with robing. You must stay in this area until the ceremony begins and be in your designated place in line when we give the signal to march which will be approximately 5 minutes before the ceremony start time. It will be important to keep noise to a minimum in this area so you can hear directions from staff and follow last-minute instructions.
Processing to Your Seat
Before you depart the robing area, please be sure to turn off/silence your cell phone.

Graduating students will begin to march 10 feet behind the University marshal. Walk slowly, stay in line, and follow the directions of the Suffolk volunteers guiding you. File into the seats reserved for your degree group as directed by the usher. Remain standing until the chairman of the Board calls the Commencement exercises to order and gives further direction.
When Your Degree Group is Called
All Students: When your dean announces the candidates for your degree, please stand up together. Under the direction of an usher, proceed to the stage one row at a time and keep a continuous flow to the foot of the stage. You will process to the left front stairs as you face the stage. Be sure to allow the student ahead of you adequate time to go up onto the stage before you follow.

Graduate Students: You will be placed in line in alphabetical/numerical order within your degree group order using your line-up card.

Graduate students will wear their caps as part of the Processional. Caps are not worn onstage for the Hooding. As your degree group is called to approach the stage, remove your cap and leave it on your seat. Drape your master's hood on your left arm and and hold your line-up with your right hand. You will present your line-up card to the reader when you arrive on stage to be recognized.When you arrive back at your seat, you can put on your cap.

Undergraduate Students: You must bring your line-up card with you. You will be placed in line in alphabetical/numerical order using your line-up card. You will present it to the card reader when you arrive on stage to be recognized. Graduate students will be placed in line in alphabetical/numerical order within your degree group order using your line-up card. You will present it to the card reader when you arrive on stage to be recognized.
Policy for Graduates Who Wish to
Bring a Child on Stage During Commencement
If you wish to have a child accompany you on stage to receive your diploma, a family member must meet you at the bottom of the stage to hand off the child as you first approach the stage. Your family member must then meet you and the child on the opposite side of the stage, and as you come off the stage, take the child back to their seat.

Please note that your family member should be as indiscernible as possible and cannot interfere in any way with the ability of the audience to view the ceremony.

No children (or other guests) are allowed in the procession, recession or graduate seating area.
While Onstage
Graduate Students: Once you are on stage, hand your line-up card to the reader, who will announce your name and appropriate honors/doctoral dissertation title at the microphone. Proceed to the middle of the stage to be hooded. You will present your doctoral/master's hood to the "hooder" and turn to face the crowd. The "hooder" will place the hood on you. You will then turn, accept a rolled scroll with your left hand, and use your right to shake hands with the "hooder," dean, and president. As you do this, your picture will be taken. You will then walk across the stage and down the second set of front stairs and return to your seat. You are expected to remain in your seat, with your degree group, throughout the entire ceremony.

Undergraduate Students: Once you are on stage, hand your line-up card to the reader, who will announce your name and appropriate honors at the microphone. Proceed to the dean, who will hand you a rolled scroll with your left hand and shake hands with the dean and the president with your right hand. As you do this, your picture will be taken. You will then walk across the stage and down the second set of front stairs and return to your seat. You are expected to remain in your seat, with your degree group, throughout the entire ceremony.
Acknowledgement of the Graduates
After all graduating students have returned to their seats, the president will ask all of you to stand and be recognized. Please stand up and sit down again together.
At the Recessional
The University marshal will raise the mace to signal the stage party and all graduates to stand for the recessional. The stage party will process down the left aisle looking at the stage, and the graduates will follow, moving out in two lines. Proceed slowly and remain in line until you exit the tent.
Receiving Your Official Diploma
During the ceremony, CAS and SBS graduates will receive a scroll with a welcome message from the Alumni Association. At the end of the ceremony, May graduates will receive their official diplomas at the diploma pick-up station. Diplomas cannot be picked up while the ceremony is taking place. If you do not pick up your diploma after the ceremony, you will be expected to do so the following week at the Registrar's Office, 73 Tremont, 6 th floor. September graduates should receive their diplomas in the mail in early October.
Safety at the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
Suffolk University Police will be utilizing LiveSafe mobile app at Commencement. We encourage you, and your guests to download and utilize the app as another option to report tips and any non-emergency safety issues that may occur at Commencement to Suffolk Police and Security.
Go to the Commencement Website for more information.

Student Affairs
Suffolk University
12th Floor, 73 Tremont Street
617-573-8239