Graduation Schedule
| Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, May 3, 4, and 5 | |
| 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | Cap and Gown Pickup, Witt Courtroom (SL290) |
| Saturday, May 21 | |
| 3:00–4:00 pm | Cap and Gown Pickup (last opportunity), Witt Courtroom (SL290) |
| 4:00–7:00 pm | Alumni Association/Law Foundation/Student Bar Association Reception for graduates and families, Law School |
| Sunday, May 22 (Good Weather) | |
| 7:30–9:45 am | Continental Breakfast, East Range between Rotunda Alley and Green Alley |
| 9:45 am | Line Up for Lawn Ceremony, Rotunda Alley (east side of Lawn, Rotunda end); students line up behind faculty marshals for processional down the Lawn, forming two non-alphabetical lines and remaining in them down the Lawn. |
| Not later than 12:55 pm | Students take seats for the Law School Ceremony, Holcombe Green Lawn (buses run from Lawn Ceremony to North Grounds via U-Hall, leaving from McCormick Road near Alderman Library). |
| 1:00 pm | Law School Ceremony Begins Announcement of awards by Dean John
C. Jeffries Jr. |
| After the Law School Ceremony | Return Gowns and Hoods, Holcombe Green Lawn (graduates may keep the cap and tassel) Light Refreshments, Withers-Brown Hall, provided by the Law School Foundation |
| Sunday, May 22 (Bad or Uncertain Weather) | |
If the weather is bad or uncertain, check the Law School Web site, www.law.virginia.edu, for alternative graduation plans. The University will make a definite announcement by 8:00 am. Local radio stations also will announce whether alternative plans are in effect. If the Lawn Ceremony is canceled, the Law School Ceremony will be held at 10:30 am in Memorial Gymnasium. You should be there, seated alphabetically, by 10:15 am. Please note, the Law School does not participate in the ceremony in University Hall under any circumstances. If the weather is uncertain but the Lawn Ceremony goes on as scheduled, you will be notified while you are seated on the Lawn if the Law School ceremony will be moved to Memorial Gymnasium. |
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Details on the Sunday Ceremonies
At the beginning of the Lawn ceremony, law students march together down the Lawn from the gathering point in Rotunda Alley to seats in front of Cabell Hall, where they will, at an appropriate point in the program, be conferred their degrees en masse. Law Students will march down the Lawn in two non-alphabetized lines, each led by two faculty marshals, as part of the University's general processional composed of faculty and graduates from all the schools. The path you will take while marching down the Lawn will be closer to the east side of the Lawn than to the west side.
After the Lawn ceremony, you should proceed immediately to the Law Grounds and find your seat for the Law School ceremony in front of Clay Hall on Holcombe Green Lawn. The seats are arranged alphabetically, and student and staff marshals will be available to assist you. Your name will be taped to the back of your seat. The J.D. graduates are seated first, followed by the joint degree graduates, the LL.M. graduates and the S.J.D. graduates. The Law School ceremony will begin at 1 pm, which gives graduates only a short amount of time to get to the Law Grounds from the Lawn ceremony, which typically ends around 12:30. The quickest way will be to proceed west from the Lawn past the Amphitheater to the McCormick Road bus stop in front of Alderman Library, then catch the shuttle to the North Grounds via University Hall which will let you out at the gatehouse in front of Darden. There is no need to change buses at University Hall. Any bus that is loading in the vicinity of Alderman Library will take you to the North Grounds after the Lawn Ceremony.
Once the graduates are in their seats and the faculty has assembled, the faculty will enter the Holcombe Green Lawn area and take their places on the stage. The Colonnades Brass Quintet will provide music for the processional.
Following remarks by Senator Evan Bayh and the presentation of graduation awards, the graduates will be hooded and presented with their diplomas. At the appropriate time, student marshals will ask each row of graduates to rise and be hooded by professors just before going on stage. Graduates will be hooded by the first available professor. Dean Hopson will announce each graduate's name and Dean Jeffries will present the diplomas. A professional photographer will be taking pictures of each graduate. After receiving your diploma, you should proceed back to your seat while others receive theirs.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, you may join friends and family directly. Please do not forget to return your rented gown and hood before leaving the Holcombe Green Lawn area! (You may keep the cap and tassel.) Following the ceremony the Law School Foundation will provide light refreshments in Withers-Brown Hall near the Library.
In the event of weather bad enough to force the ceremony indoors to Memorial Gymnasium, the ceremony will be approximately the same.