University Commencement

Overview

Ceremony Details

Award Recipients

History

WHEN & WHERE

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Schedule:

8:30 a.m. General admission gates open
9:00 a.m. Degree Candidates line up
9:30 a.m. Degree Candidate Procession begins
10:30 a.m. Ceremony begins with the Academic Procession
12:00 p.m. Ceremony concludes

Location: Outdoors on Morningside Campus, rain or shine

Tickets: Tickets are required for this event.

TICKETS & ADMISSION

Parents, Family and Friends
On the morning of University Commencement, each guest over the age of three must have a ticket to the ceremony and will be required to show it to enter the Morningside Campus. Eligible degree candidates must register to request tickets to the ceremony for family and guests.

Guests may enter campus starting at 8:30 a.m. and must present their tickets for scanning or collection in order to enter campus.  Please make sure to receive your tickets prior to Commencement Day. Tickets are required for entry.  Tickets can only be scanned once, and guests will not be permitted to reenter campus after exiting.

Guests with general admission tickets should enter at 114th Street and Broadway.

All guests with disabilities, limited mobility, the elderly needing assistance, or those needing sign language interpretation should enter:

• 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
• 115th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (between Wallach and Hartley Halls)

For more information about attending the ceremony, please visit the Parents, Friends and Family section of this website.

Degree Candidates
Graduating students do not need tickets, however, they do need to register to attend the ceremony. Registration to attend the ceremony and request guest tickets will begin in early April. Eligible students will be notified when registration will open the first week of April via email from their respective school and the link to register will be included in that communication. Students will be prompted to log-in with their UNI and password. Upon registering to attend and participate in the ceremony, students will be prompted to select the amount of guest tickets they require for their parents, family, and friends. Undergraduate students will be able to request up to four (4) guest tickets and graduate students will be able to request up to three (3) guest tickets. NOTE: If a student is not planning on attending the ceremony, there is no need to register to participate.

NOTE: The selling or buying of University Commencement tickets is strictly prohibited. Please be cautious of offers to sell or buy Commencement tickets. Tickets hold no official resale value and may be an unauthorized copy, therefore deemed unusable and denied on University Commencement day. Commencement tickets are solely for the purpose of allowing the friends and relatives of graduating students to attend the ceremony.

Please make sure to distribute tickets to your guests prior to Commencement Day. 

On the morning of Commencement, students need to wear their academic regalia and carry their University ID. They should use an upper campus entrance to line up for the procession. If you are a student that graduated prior to May 2013 and no longer have your University ID, please bring your registration email confirmation along with a photo ID in order to gain access to upper campus. If you cannot locate or obtain your confirmation email, your school must provide a letter on school letterhead indicating your participation in University Commencement and you should bring that along with a photo ID to line up for the process.

Beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Commencement Day and lasting until the end of the ceremony, navigation across campus will be difficult.  Therefore, we strongly urge all graduating students to pick up their caps and gowns prior to the morning of the event.

For more information, please visit the Graduating Students section of the website.

Faculty and Staff
Columbia University staff and faculty must show a University ID card to enter the campus on University Commencement morning. This includes participants in the academic procession. Space is extremely limited. Seats on campus are reserved for ticket holders and degree candidates only. Staff and faculty who are not participating in the event are strongly encouraged to enjoy the proceedings via our live webcast. You will receive instructions on the best entrances to access Morningside Campus later in the spring semester.

For more information, please visit the Faculty & Staff section of this website.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Guest Seating: Tickets allow entrance into Morningside Campus on Commencement Day however they do not guarantee a seat. Seats are on a first come first served basis, they are unassigned, and cannot be reserved. University Commencement is a highly popular event and therefore space is very limited.

Weather: The University Commencement ceremony is an outdoor event which is held rain or shine. Prepare yourself appropriately for the weather conditions. Please bring sunscreen and a hat as well as an umbrella or raincoat, should there be inclement weather.

Street Closures: For those planning to drive or park near campus during Commencement week, please note that many streets surrounding Morningside Campus will be closed (to both traffic and parking) by the NYPD. Check back for more information on the specific street closures later in the spring.

•  Friday, May 17, 2013
  114th Street – Broadway to Amsterdam Ave.
   
• Saturday, May 18, 2013   
  113th Street – Amsterdam Ave. to Riverside Drive (no park spaces in front of 600 West 113th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive)
  114th Street – Broadway to Amsterdam Ave.
  115th Street – Broadway to Riverside Drive
  116th Street to 118th Street – Morningside Drive
   
• Commencement Day: Wednesday, May 22, 2013   
  114th Street – Amsterdam Ave. to Broadway
  116th Street – Amsterdam Ave. to Morningside Drive
   
• Thursday, May 23, 2013  
  116th Street to 118th Street – Morningside Drive

Green Initiatives: Guests are encouraged to bring their own water bottles in order to cut down on waste. The University is committed to global sustainability efforts and clearly-marked recycling bins will be provided on the campus grounds during the University Commencement ceremony. Following the event, please deposit unwanted plastic bottles or paper products (including programs), in these containers.

After the ceremony: The ceremony will end shortly after noon. We recommend that graduates and their families choose a designated area to meet after the ceremony. With more than 30,000 people on campus, it can be very difficult to find someone — even with a cell phone — without planning ahead.

Bags: For security reasons and to save time, we ask that everyone refrain from bringing bags to campus on Commencement Day.  Any bags or packages brought to the ceremony will be subject to search and must be kept in the owner’s possession at all times.