FAQ for CLA Undergraduate Commencement

CLA Undergraduate Commencement is held once each year (in May) for all fall, spring, and summer graduates. 

During February, you will receive an invitation via your U of M email account with RSVP instructions for the Sunday, May 18, 2025 ceremonies if:

• You graduated with a CLA degree in Summer 2024 or Fall 2024
• By the time the RSVP system opens in February, you have an Expected Graduation Term (EGT) in MyU of Spring 2025, May Term 2025, or Summer 2025. (See the One Stop Graduation webpage for how to apply for graduation.)
   

There is an 11:00 a.m. and a 4:00 p.m. ceremony. You must attend the ceremony time associated with your major—no switching to the other ceremony can be accommodated. You will be invited to a time based on your major for the primary bachelor’s degree you are earning.

11 a.m. Ceremony

Acting
American Studies
Anthropology
Art
Art History
Astrophysics
Biology, Society, & Environment
Chemistry
Computer Science
Dance
Earth Sciences
Economics
Economics - Business Economics Emphasis
Economics - Quantitative Emphasis
Environmental Geosciences
Geography
History
Human Physiology
Individualized Studies
Individually Designed Interdepartmental
Mathematics
Music
Music Education
Music Therapy
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Sociology
Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Justice
Statistical Practice
Statistical Science
Theatre Arts
Urban Studies

4 p.m. Ceremony

African American & African Studies
American Indian Studies
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Chicano-Latino Studies
Classical and Near Eastern Religions and Cultures
Communication Studies
Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature
Dakota Language
Developmental Psychology
English
French & Italian Studies
French Studies
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
German, Scandinavian, Dutch
Global Studies
Italian Studies
Jewish Studies
Journalism
Linguistics
Media and Information
Ojibwe Language
Psychology
Religious Studies
Russian
Spanish & Portuguese Studies
Spanish Studies
Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
Strategic Communication: Advertising & Public Relations
Studies in Cinema & Media Culture
Technical Writing and Communication

All graduates planning to participate in their Commencement ceremony must register as a participant.

Instructions for how to register for your ceremony will be emailed to you from [email protected] in mid-February.

The deadline to register is April 16.

No, they are different processes. The application for degree is automatically done based on the Expected Graduation Term (EGT) noted in your MyU account. For this reason, it is very important that your EGT is correct. If your EGT is incorrect, please email your CLA academic advisor with your correct EGT so it can be updated.

Although we don’t require graduates to wear regalia (a cap and gown), it is strongly encouraged. 99% of all CLA graduates do wear a cap and gown. You can buy a graduation cap and gown at UMN Bookstores, located in Coffman Union or order your cap and gown through the UMN Bookstore website. 

Students who meet a specific GPA or Honors Program threshold may receive special recognition. 

If, at the end of fall semester, you have a minimum GPA of 3.75, you’ll receive the “distinction” recognition. If your GPA is 3.9 or higher, you’ll receive “high distinction” recognition. Both distinctions receive a special cord to wear at commencement. You will receive an email from CLA Student Services with instructions for picking up your cord during late April/early May. Please note you will only be issued one set of cords, and it is your responsibility to bring it to wear it to the ceremony. 

If you are in the University Honors Program (UHP) and will graduate with Latin honors, UHP will contact you with details about the medallion ceremony that is held prior to commencement.

The undergraduate student speaker for Commencement has a unique opportunity to address their fellow graduates, instructors, and family at the Commencement ceremonies taking place at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

To qualify as the student speaker, you must be:

• Eligible to graduate
• Scheduled to complete your degree requirements by August 2025
• In good standing with the university
   

Instructions to submit application materials will be sent to students in February after Commencement RSVPs begin. Potential applicants will need to prepare the following: 

• A cover sheet with your name, major, and contact information, including your phone number and email address.
• A draft of your speech. (There will be time to edit and make changes to your speech if you are the selected speaker.) When spoken, the speech should last no longer than 5 minutes, which is about 750 words. Your speech should reflect on your experiences at the University of Minnesota and in the College of Liberal Arts and address topics that you believe will resonate with your audience.
• Your current résumé

A committee of CLA staff and students will review the applications and select finalists for interviews in March. The student speaker will be selected in Late March/Early April, and CLA will assist the student speaker in preparing their speech. 

CLA will choose one speaker for our 11:00 a.m. ceremony and a different speaker for our 4:00 p.m. ceremony. Please open the "Which ceremony time (11am or 4pm) is mine?" accordion above to learn which majors are assigned to each ceremony time.

Graduates need to check in at the Maturi Sports Pavilion located across the street from Mariucci Arena on Fourth Street SE. 

• For the 11 a.m. ceremony, graduates need to check in between 9:30 and 10:15 a.m.
• For the 4 p.m. ceremony, graduates need to check in between 2:30 and 3:15 p.m. 

To sit with a friend, that person should be in front of or behind you in line. 

Mobility Accommodations for Graduates: Check-In and the Processional March
Because CLA has such a large number of graduates, they check in at the Maturi Sports Pavilion. This is a separate building across the street from the 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Sports Pavilion is where graduates form two single-file lines and move across the street to Mariucci. Once inside Mariucci, ceremony marshals guide the lines of graduates in the formal Processional March that circles around the arena floor before graduates are guided to their seats in rows of 20 chairs. 

• If you anticipate any difficulty or discomfort with this process and would like to opt out of participating in the march from the Sports Pavilion to Mariucci, please email [email protected] requesting to check in at Mariucci, and we can provide you with more information.
• If you would also like to opt out of the formal Processional March and be guided directly to your seat when the ceremony begins, please email [email protected] with that request.

Mobility Accommodations for Graduates: Crossing the Stage
Ceremony marshals wearing maroon robes will let graduates know when to make their way to the side of the stage next to a low ramp. Once you are up the ramp and on stage, you will take a photo with the CLA Dean, receive your official diploma cover, and continue across the stage, moving down another low ramp for additional photos offstage before returning to your seat.

• If you anticipate any difficulty or discomfort with this process, please email [email protected] detailing your needs, and we can provide you with more information.

Mobility Accommodations for Graduates: Leaving the Arena
At the end of the ceremony, graduates will be instructed to exit using the nearest stairwell to make their way up to the concourse level.

• If you anticipate any difficulty or discomfort with this process, please email [email protected] requesting to leave by an alternate exit, and we can provide you with more information.

Visual/Audio Accommodations for Graduates
The ceremony is live streamed to giant monitors in the arena with closed captioning.

• If you would like to request a seat nearer to the stage for a closer view of the screen and captions, please email [email protected] with that request.
• If you have other requests, please email [email protected] detailing your needs, and we can provide you with more information.

If you have an accommodation need that is not described here, please email [email protected] with more detail about your specific needs and we will coordinate with you directly.

No. If you must bring a purse, backpack, coat, or other personal items, please leave them with your guest(s) in the audience. You will not be able to leave anything behind at the Maturi Sports Pavilion, where you check in.

Each graduate is guaranteed audience tickets for up to 6 guests if the graduate claims these tickets by April 23.

Before arriving at the arena, each invited guest needs to receive a ticket from a graduating student to be admitted. (Tickets will not be available at the door.)

All seating is general admission, and specific seats and/or consecutive seats are not guaranteed.

Please note that your ceremony will be broadcast live on YouTube for remote viewing.

All guests in the audience must have a ticket to the ceremony. All guest tickets are General Admission (no assigned seats) and free of charge. Only the graduating student can claim guest tickets. The graduating student must claim guest tickets by April 23.

Steps in the ticketing process:

1) When you (as the graduating student) RSVP "Yes" in the commencement registration system, you will automatically receive an email with a unique Promo Code password and instructions for claiming up to 6 guest tickets.

2) When you use your Promo Code password to claim your tickets, you will be asked to sign in to your Gopher Sports account (or create an account). Your tickets will then be electronically delivered to your account for you to use in the Gopher Sports App. 

3) You then will be able to transfer tickets to anyone with a Gopher Sports account.

Please claim only the number of tickets you expect to need. Your Promo Code password will work one time only, but if you claim less than 6 tickets and later realize you need more (up to 6 total), you can email [email protected] before April 23 for a new Promo Code password. 

After April 23, all Promo Code passwords will be deactivated. Graduates who do not claim their tickets by then are no longer guaranteed 6 guest tickets. They can instead submit the CLA Commencement Waitlist for Extra Guest Tickets. After April 23, any unclaimed tickets will be redistributed to graduates on the waitlist. 

Yes, a link to the live webcast will be added prominently to the CLA Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony webpage on the day of the ceremony.

Guests can arrive up to 75 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. (If they arrive earlier, the doors may be locked because we are prepping for the ceremony.)

Please note that the procession of faculty and graduates onto the arena floor begins approximately 20 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony.

All guests are encouraged to park in lots recommended on the 3M Arena at Mariucci webpage.

This is a printable map showing the entire East Bank campus, including parking areas. This is an online map for the 3M Arena at Mariucci and surrounding areas.

Mobility Accommodations for Guests: Parking
Persons with accessibility needs can be dropped off at the ground-level entrance on the northeast corner of the 3M Arena at Mariucci, located between 5th and Oak Streets. (Drivers with state-issued disability permits may park in designated spaces in nearby parking facilities, such as Lot 37.) At this entrance, there is an elevator to the seating level.

Mobility Accommodations for Guests: Wheelchairs
While mobility aids such as wheelchairs, walkers, or canes are not available for rent, a limited numbers of wheelchairs will be available to transport guests from the entrance of Mariucci to the desired seating area. (These wheelchairs cannot be used by one guest for the entirety of the event, because the wheelchairs must remain available to others in the event of a medical emergency.)

Mobility Accommodations for Guests: Seating
From the concourse level, guests will take stairs down to the seats. However, the top of every section features wheelchair seating areas and seats on the top row that do not require the use of stairs. This ADA seating is marked but cannot be reserved. Dozens of staff will be available on the concourse level to assist, so guests can share their need for ADA seating at the Guest Services booth when they arrive and be guided accordingly.

The arena has adapted restrooms. 

The ceremony is live streamed with closed captioning on giant monitors in the arena.

Yes. Guests will encounter a security checkpoint at the door and will not be permitted to enter with prohibited items.

See the "Prohibited Items" list on the 3M at Mariucci Arena Policies & General Procedures website for restricted items (such as any noisemaking devices) and the bag policy. 

Guests are welcome to bring flowers, but balloons are NOT allowed in the arena. (No exceptions, due to fire codes.) Flowers may be pre-ordered and will also be available for purchase in the lobby of the arena.

Yes. During the RSVP process you will have the opportunity to record your name for professional readers to reference the pronunciation. At the ceremony, you will scan a name card just before you cross the stage, so your name can be announced.

Typically, each ceremony lasts 2 to 2.5 hours. Graduates are NOT permitted to leave the arena floor before the ceremony ends.

The ceremony includes a procession of faculty, students, regents, and other guests, a commencement address, and the presentation of degree candidates. All degree candidates cross the stage as their names are announced.

Yes, professional photographers from GradImages will be on the arena floor to take three pictures of each graduate: one as you wait to ascend the stage, one on stage with your diploma cover in hand, and one after you exit the stage.

GradImages will contact you directly at your UofM email when the photo proofs are available to view. You can place an order for photos from that email. (There is no obligation to purchase photos.)

Audience members are permitted to take photos only from their seats.

No. Because the majority of students who attend commencement have not completed their degree requirements by the ceremony date, an empty diploma cover is handed to you as you cross the stage. This is standard practice at university graduation ceremonies. 

Your diploma will be mailed to you 6 to 8 weeks after the commencement ceremony. It is up to you to make sure your diploma is mailed to the correct address. Your diploma will be mailed to the diploma address that appears in MyU: My Info.

By default, your diploma will be printed with your primary/legal name, the degree you earned, the confer date, and honors earned (if applicable). If you want to change the name on your diploma you can update your degree name. Your diploma lists only your degree. (Your major, minor, and GPA are only listed on your official transcript, not on your diploma.)