Commencement

Clark University Commencement

Information for College of Professional and Continuing Education (COPACE) Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Candidates

Congratulations! You will soon receive your degree from Clark University. Although most of your work is completed, there are a few significant details to which you need to attend before graduation in May. Please read carefully and note important dates, times, locations, procedures, attire requirements, and guest considerations for Commencement 2013.

Most of the information for Commencement 2013 listed here for undergraduate students also applies to graduate students.

Attendance

Commencement 2013 will be held Sunday, May 19, on the Jefferson Academic Center Green. The procession from Kneller Athletic Center begins at 1.15 p.m. and the ceremony starts at 1.30.

Students who have completed all work and whose grades (no incompletes) have been received at the Registrar's Office automatically are included in the Commencement program and invited to participate in the graduation ceremony.

If a last-minute emergency prevents you from joining the ceremony as planned, please call (508) 793-7575.

Please review your student account prior to April 1 to see if you have any holds and/or a balance due. All holds and balances must be cleared before you can be cleared for graduation. You may contact your student account counselor with questions. If your last name begins with:

  • A-Ge, call (508) 793-7721
  • Gf-No, call (508) 793-7483
  • Np-Z, call (508) 793-7491

All students who received federally funded or Clark institutional loans to finance their educations must complete an online exit interview. The exit interviews are mandatory, and diplomas of any students who do not complete an online exit interview may be withheld. You will be notified in March about the exit interview process.

Caps and Gowns

Caps and gowns for all graduating students may be picked up on:
Tuesday, May 14, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Atwood Hall Blue Room
Thursday, May 16, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Atwood Hall Blue Room

Undergraduates

You will be fitted when you pick up your souvenir caps, gowns, tassels and hoods and you will have been billed in advance for your outfit, which is yours to keep.

Graduate Students

The charge for master's degree souvenir caps, gowns, tassels and hoods is $28, due and payable to University Cap and Gown upon pickup. The outfit is yours to keep.

Invitations

You may invite as many guests as you wish to the COPACE brunch and Commencement. If you would like to send out formal Commencement invitations to family and friends, you may pick them up at the COPACE Office in room 111, Jonas Clark Hall in May. Five printed invitations are available for each graduating student.

Commencement Brunch

At 10 a.m. in Tilton Hall, undergraduate and graduate students are honored during our annual Commencement Brunch. Alpha Sigma Lambda is the National Evening College Honor Society and Alpha Epsilon Lambda is an honor society for graduate and professional students. The new members of the Alpha Sigma Lambda society are inducted and the members of the Alpha Epsilon Lambda are recognized. Students and families are warmly invited to participate in this event—it is a wonderful way to begin your Graduation Day! Additional information regarding Brunch will be mailed to you at a later date.

Honor Societies

Alpha Sigma Lambda was established as a National Honor Society in 1947, and in 1963, COPACE established the Psi Chapter. The honor society recognizes students who maintain high scholastic standards in their academic programs while successfully balancing the demands of their adult lives.

Alpha Epsilon Lambda, the honor society of graduate and professional school students, was founded in 1990 and the Alpha Omicron chapter was established at Clark University in 2006. This society was founded with the specific objective of recognizing the academic and leadership accomplishments of graduate and professional school students. Members are installed into the society at the Graduate Programs annual dinner in May.

Commencement Day Schedule

Assembly

If you are graduating, and not attending the brunch, assemble at 12.30 p.m. sharp in Kneller Athletic Center wearing (or carrying) your cap and gown. Anyone who does not arrive in time for accurate placement in the procession will not receive a diploma on stage.

Commencement is a formal affair. Commencement officials reserve the right to prohibit a student from participating if the formal cap and gown are not worn, or if the student's identity is concealed in any way.

Seating

In the Kneller gymnasium, tagged seats are arranged alphabetically. Find the one with your name on it and be seated. You will receive last-minute instructions at this time.

Procession

From Kneller, you will walk in pairs to the Commencement area. When you take your seat on the Campus Green, stay in alphabetical order—otherwise you might get someone else's diploma.

Ceremony

The program, which begins with acommencement address and ends with the awarding of doctoral, master's and baccalaureate degrees, will run approximately 2.5 hours. To avoid disruption, and out of respect for all degree recipients, all students are expected to remain in their assigned seats for the entire ceremony.

Awarding degrees

  • Group 1 — all graduate degrees
  • Group 2 — all COPACE undergraduate degrees
  • Group 3 — all undergraduate college degrees

At some point in the ceremony, the faculty marshal will ask members of your degree group to stand. Remain standing as President Angel confers your degree. Your group then will proceed toward the podium, row by row, beginning at the front and the extreme left. Follow the person on your left. When your name is called, walk across the platform, receive your diploma from President Angel and return to your seat.

Recession

After the ceremony, the formal recession of the platform party (including the president, trustees, honorary degree recipients and faculty) begins. You are expected to remain seated until the party has left the platform. Graduates will follow them in a recession from the platform to Atwood Plaza along the walk beside Jefferson Academic Center, where faculty members will have formed an aisle to congratulate you.

Consideration for Guests

Guests who prefer seating indoors may sit in Atwood Hall, enabling them to see a broadcast of the ceremony on large TV monitors. If special seating is required for physically challenged family or friends, please contact Physical Plant (508) 793-7566 in advance to arrange reserved seating.

To allow all to hear and enjoy the Commencement ceremony without disruption, we request that you hold off celebrating until after the final recession. Drinking and raucous behavior during the ceremony will not be permitted.

Commencement Reception

Following the Commencement ceremony, a reception with refreshments will be held for all graduates and their families outside (weather permitting) in the Kresge Quadrangle, between the Higgins University Center and Sackler Sciences Center. The reception will be held inside the University Center if there is inclement weather.

Photographs and Video Recordings

Professional photographers will set up near the Commencement platform to take photographs of each graduate as he/she is handed a diploma. Details about purchasing this photograph will be sent to students' homes after graduation, but there is no obligation to buy.

Family and friends may take their own photo graphs along the processional route from Kneller and from a small section reserved at the side of the platform.

Clark will be video taping the commencement ceremony and broadcasting a live webcast online. More information about the webcast will be included with a link to same on this website.

We Salute You On May 19, 2013, when you will reach your destination as graduates of Clark University and begin your journey as Clark Alumni, Class of 2013.