2018 Commencement primer

commencement

The University of Pennsylvania’s 262nd Commencement ceremony will be held at Franklin Field on Monday, May 14. Answers to most FAQs are at Penn’s Commencement 2018 website. Here are 10 helpful facts to guide you through this year’s ceremony.

1. Guests should use the south stands entrance to Franklin Field on South Street when gates open at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are not required.

2. Graduating students will march into the stadium beginning at 9:30 a.m. The ceremony will officially start at 10:15 a.m. and end at approximately 12:15 p.m.

3. Alumna and award-winning journalist Andrea Mitchell will be this year’s Commencement speaker. Mitchell, the chief foreign affairs correspondent at NBC News and host of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” will also receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

4. An estimated 5,000 students will attend Commencement. According to data from Penn’s Office of Institutional Research and Analysis, 6,295 diplomas will be issued. The total number of graduating undergraduate and graduate students is less than diplomas because there are dual and sub-matriculated degrees.

5. Before entering Franklin Field, graduating students will assemble in Hamilton Village for a procession across campus. Faculty, staff, and friends traditionally gather along Locust Walk to watch and cheer the graduates. The student procession will pass a viewing stage in front of College Hall where Penn President Amy Gutmann, other senior administrators, trustees, and the Commencement speaker and honorees will applaud them.

6. Leslie Laird Kruhly, vice president and secretary of the University, will lead the academic procession carrying the University Mace, an ornate, four-pound staff designed in the style of maces of medieval knights. The Penn mace is adorned with the University seal and arms, the Penn and Ben Franklin coat of arms, a depiction of the Rittenhouse orrery, and a thistle symbolizing Penn’s early ties with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

7. Commencement will be held at Franklin Field rain or shine. In the event of dangerous weather conditions, the ceremony may be delayed or relocated to the Palestra with seating limited to the academic procession and graduating students. In the event of severe weather conditions, the academic procession across campus may be cancelled. Information will be posted online and on signs around campus and announced on KYW Radio and via automated telephone messages at 215-898-MELT.

8. Family and friends unable to attend Commencement can experience the ceremony live online beginning at 9 a.m. (EDT). Coverage will include the student and academic processions through campus. For the streaming webcast, go to the Commencement Webcast & Multimedia Archives page.

9. In addition to the University’s Commencement ceremony and a separate Baccalaureate ceremony, Penn’s 12 schools each host a ceremony for students enrolled in that school. Graduating students will be individually recognized. Their names will be called, and they will walk across a stage. Visit the School Ceremonies page of the University Commencement website for more information.

10. Public transport is advised. If you plan to drive, allow extra time for traffic congestion. Parking will be limited; normal parking fees apply.