1. Instructions for Student Assembly

Graduates will assemble for the student procession in Penn Park on Dunning-Cohen Champion’s Field. You can access Penn Park from Walnut Street, or by walking through Shoemaker Green and across the Paley Bridge. The entrance to the line-up area will be at the north end of the Field.

Graduates should arrive at 8:00 a.m. for check-in. All graduates need a Penn ID for entry to the line-up area and to Franklin Field. There will be long lines, so plan to get there early.

All graduates will go through a security screening checkpoint before entering, and will be asked to unzip regalia and open any small clutch bags consistent with airport-style security screenings. No bags are permitted. Only small items, including phones, wallets, and small clutches are allowed. In addition to bags, the following are not permitted: artificial noisemakers and wireless speakers (including airhorns or bullhorns), flags, signs, or posters. No golf umbrellas are permitted. Small collapsible umbrellas are allowed. Please see the full list of prohibited items on the Commencement website.

Any guests or graduates who attempt to enter the stadium with prohibited item(s) will be asked to dispose of them prior to entering. Security personnel will deny access to any individual who does not comply.

Staff will be on site to scan your Penn ID upon arrival. If you are an August 2024, December 2024 graduate, or online student without an active Penn ID, please bring a valid photo ID (e.g., passport, driver’s license), and we will have a separate area to check you in.

Candidates for degrees in May, as well as graduates who completed degree requirements in August or December 2024, are invited to march in the procession and attend the Commencement ceremony. Students participating in the procession should wear academic regalia, and arrive at 8:00 a.m. to check in and line up. The student procession will enter Franklin Field at approximately 9:00 a.m.

Graduates must be on time for the procession line-up to be seated on the field with fellow graduates. Anyone who arrives late, after the ceremony has started, will be seated in the guest sections of Franklin Field. The ceremony will start at 10:15 a.m. and end at approximately 12:15 p.m.

Signs will direct you to the assembly area for your school. M.A., M.S., and Ph.D. candidates should meet in the section "Graduate Faculties," regardless of school. Marshals will be on hand to direct you.

 Please be prompt! If you arrive late or are not wearing academic regalia, you will not be able to march and sit with your classmates.

2. Instructions for Student Procession

The procession of degree candidates will form and move in four columns as directed by Commencement marshals (identified by lanyards). The procession will enter Franklin Field at the North entrance.

If you wish to sit with friends on the field, you must line up in front of or behind each other in the same column of the procession. Do not stand next to each other, as each column is directed to a different section of Franklin Field. Once the procession begins, be sure to follow the person in front of you and stay in your original column. Please walk briskly, and make sure there are no gaps in front of you. Do not leave the procession once it is underway. Candidates will be seated on the field according to School (diagram below).

When you reach the row to which you are directed, please move into it quickly, leaving no vacant seats in the row, and be seated immediately. An end seat in each row will bear a stack of Commencement Programs; the person occupying that seat should pass the programs along the row. Bottled water will be available on the field for the degree candidates.

3. Instructions for the Commencement Ceremony

Upon the entrance of the academic procession into Franklin Field, all graduates and guests should rise and remain standing until after the invocation.

Caps are worn during the procession and removed for the singing of the National Anthem. When the Deans present the candidates for each degree, graduates rise, and remain standing until the end of the presentation. After the degrees have been conferred, graduates lift their caps in salute, and the tassel is then shifted to the left side, front. 

The Provost will acknowledge those receiving various honors, prizes, and awards, as well as membership in scholastic honor societies. All persons who have earned these honors will be asked to rise for recognition and to remain standing until the completion of these remarks.