Information for Graduates

Graduation Application (required in order to be awarded your degree and to participate in the commencement ceremony)

Regalia Details and Deadlines

Regalia Return

Immediately following the commencement ceremony, students may return robe bank rentals to the Graduate Registrar’s office (Rogers Hall, Room 301). Purchased regalia may also be donated to the robe bank; donation receipts will be provided by Lewis & Clark Institutional Advancement.

Graduates requesting accessibility accommodations including ASL interpretation: Please email gradcommence@lclark.edu no later than Friday, May 2, 2025.

Service Animals

Service animals are welcome at the ceremony and reception. See Lewis & Clark’s Service and Assistance Animal Policy for additional information.

• 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.)
  • Campus Map with Shuttle Routes (TBD)
  • The campus pathways and parking lots consist of a variety of different materials such as asphalt, cobblestones, and pavers. There are also steep inclines/declines between the parking lots, Pamplin Sports Center Gym, and the Graduate Campus.
  • General parking is available inside Gates 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8.
  • Shuttle service (map TBD) is available to the parking lots inside Gates 2, 4, 5, and 6, and Pamplin Gym from 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. PDT. (Shuttle service ends at 2:00 p.m. PDT.)
  • Reception Shuttle Stop: The Gate 6 shuttle stop is the drop-off and pick-up point for the after-reception on the Graduate Campus. Guests and graduates may also walk from Pamplin Gym to the Graduate Campus for the reception.
  • 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).
• 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.
• Rain: Ponchos will be provided if it is raining. Once graduates reach Pamplin Sports Center, ushers will be on hand to take the ponchos before graduates enter the main arena. Ponchos will be available for graduates after the ceremony, as well.

• 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.
• If it is raining, ponchos will be provided to graduates. Once graduates reach Pamplin Sports Center, ushers will take the ponchos before graduates enter the main arena. Ponchos will be available after the ceremony, as well.

• 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.

• 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.
• If it is raining, ponchos will be provided to graduates after the ceremony, as well.

• A complimentary or free reception featuring local food trucks including Churros Locos, Fifty Licks Ice Cream, Koi Fusion, Phat Cart, Rip City Grill, and The Whole Bowl will be held on the Graduate Campus immediately following the ceremony.
• In case of rain, the after-reception will remain on the Graduate Campus. Plentiful indoor space will be available in the South Chapel, York Commons, and York classrooms for all to enjoy their food. Live music with one of Portland’s finest DJs will be playing in York, as well.
• Shuttle service is available to the parking lots inside Gates 2, 5, and 6, and Pamplin Gym from 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. PDT. (Shuttle service ends at 2:00 p.m. PDT.)
• Reception Shuttle Stop: The Gate 6 shuttle stop is the drop-off and pick-up point for the after-reception on the Graduate Campus. Guests and graduates may also walk from Pamplin Gym to the Graduate Campus for the reception.
• 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).
• Reception ends at 1:30 p.m. PDT; shuttle service ends at 2:00 p.m. PDT.