Commencement Procedures

Rehearsal

The rehearsal will take place from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 13, 2008 at the University of Dayton Arena.  Please be sure to bring your graduation card and instructions (please click here to print student instructions) to the rehearsal.  All graduates are encouraged to attend the rehearsal although it is not a requirement for your participation in the Commencement ceremony.

The rehearsal is your opportunity to familiarize yourself with the layout of the University of Dayton Arena and the order of the Commencement ceremony.  If you feel that the dean of your division may have trouble reading your name during the ceremony, please be sure to meet with the dean at the end of the rehearsal.  The dean will make any special notations directly on your graduation card.  DO NOT write on your graduation card.  The dean is the only person who should write on the card.

If you have a final exam conflict on the afternoon of Friday, June 13, during the 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. rehearsal time, contact the instructor and arrange another exam time.  If the instructor has any questions, please ask them to contact Jenni Brannan in Registration and Student Records at (937) 512-2857 or jennifer.brannan@sinclair.edu.

Arrival and Line Up Prior to Processional

Please be sure to arrive at the University of Dayton Arena by 5:45 p.m.  You must bring your cap, gown, tassel and graduation card.  The line up will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m.  Faculty marshals, those dressed in red caps and gowns, will assist you in the line up and processional. 

Graduates are to report to their designated staging area by division and should remain in the staging area to expedite the line up process.  A map of the University of Dayton Arena and divisional lineups is available.  Directional signage will also be placed around the University of Dayton Arena. 

Please note that your tassel is worn on the left side of your cap.

The Ceremony

During the ceremony, which will last about two hours, the president, senior vice president and provost and faculty marshals will provide directions to the graduates.  Please listen carefully to their directions.  Graduates who have elected to participate in Commencement should plan to remain for the entire event.

1.      The Processional into the Arena begins promptly at 6:45 p.m.  During the Processional, faculty marshals will lead the graduates to their seating area.  Graduates will fill in rows of seats as directed by the faculty marshals – remain standing.

2.      Remain standing through the Invocation until after the singing of America the Beautiful.  Male graduates should remove caps for the Invocation and keep them off until the singing of America the Beautiful is completed.

3.      Graduates will be seated following America the Beautiful and throughout the Commencement address. 

4.      Conferring of Degrees.  The graduates will be asked to rise by Dr. Helen Grove, Senior Vice President and Provost.  She will present the class to the Board of Trustees and President Steven Lee Johnson.  The president will then confer the degrees.  After the conferring of the degrees, all graduates will be seated.

5.      Upon a signal from the faculty marshal, graduates will rise one row at a time.  Graduates will proceed to the stage and hand the graduation card to the division dean who will announce the graduate’s name.  The graduate will proceed to President Johnson to receive the diploma and also be greeted by a member of the Board of Trustees, step off the stage for a professional photograph and then return to his/her seat – please remain standing.

6.      Upon the faculty marshal’s signal, each row will be seated.

7.      Graduates will remain seated throughout all remarks until the Benediction.

8.      Graduates rise for the Benediction.  Male graduates should remove caps for the Benediction.

9.      Graduates remain standing until the Recessional.  Male graduates replace caps after the flag has passed.  The Recessional will be the reverse order of the Processional.  A faculty marshal will lead each group of graduates out the same aisle that the group used to enter the Arena.