Get ready for the big day and navigate it with ease with these instructions and tips.
This page addresses the steps that graduates should take after applying and being approved for Commencement. To see if you're eligible and to learn how to apply, purchase regalia, get tickets and download the app visit Graduates.
Read the Commencement parking flyer enclosed with your mailed parking permit to familiarize yourself and your guests with Special Events Parking, which includes information about the time parking lots open, garage information, accessibility parking details for permit holders and non-permit holders, ride share instructions and shuttle services.
All degree candidates will receive one parking pass for Lot 4, 5 or 8, which are in close proximity to the Towson Center Gym (where degree candidates must report 90 minutes before the ceremony). You may share this pass with your guests. This option requires walking long distances in some areas that are sloped or uphill.
Make sure your guests have their tickets. Please be sure to transfer your guest tickets to a designee who will be able to access them on a mobile device to scan at the entrance. Please note that screenshots of the barcode will not scan.
Remove your cap and gown from the packaging as soon as your receive it to ensure that both the size and order are correct. Steam your gown to remove wrinkles. Check out this wikiHow for easy ways to remove wrinkles. Your gown must be zipped during the ceremony.
About an inch from your eyebrows, place the cap level with the point in front. Hang your tassel on the right side. For master’s candidates, place your hood over your head with the colors facing outward and back, then position and secure the hood cord to a shirt button or with a pin. Doctoral candidates will carry the hood to the ceremony.
Ensure you have flat-soled shoes because the walk from the robing area in the Towson Center to the ceremony in the arena requires a walk of one mile that involves going up and down stairs and standing for long periods of time.
For information on Cap Decoration Guidelines, visit Graduates.
Candidates may display distinguished accomplishments during Commencement activities with honor cords and medallions.
Honor cords and medallions are distributed by individual colleges or programs and are not for sale at the U-Store or regulated by the Office of the Provost. Latin Honors are determined after the ceremonies by the Graduation Office.
Candidates with sensory needs or health-associated challenges that may be impacted by crowds, loud noise and lights are encouraged to bring ear protection or items that may relieve stress or agitation.
Anyone entering TU Arena or the Towson Center (i.e., faculty, staff, volunteers, degree candidates, guests, etc.) must account for their attendance and will undergo handheld metal detection and bag checks for prohibited items. For details visit Event Safety and Security Information (PDF).
Do not plan to bring any personal items with you to the robing room. This includes coats, bags, extra shoes, umbrellas, etc. The only thing students will be permitted to bring from the robing room to the arena are small bags that do not exceed 10x10x2 inches.
You must check into the candidate robing area, located in the Towson Center gym, at 8:30 a.m. for the morning ceremony and 1:30 p.m. for the afternoon ceremony.
You will be required to present a photo ID upon arrival so that Commencement staff can quickly identify you and provide you with your student name card that will be used as you walk across the stage.
You will spend approximately 90 minutes in the student robing area prior to joining the processional into the arena for the ceremony. Be sure to bring your ceremony attire (gown, hood if a master's candidate, cap and tassel).
Here are some tips for what to expect at the ceremony as a graduate:
When you share memories from the day on social, use #TUproud and tag Towson University for a chance to be featured!
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Commencement ceremonies can be loud and raucous, with bright lights and big crowds. The ceremony includes music and video components. It is particularly loud when undergraduates turn their tassels during the ceremony, which will be announced before it happens. There may be loud noises at other times during the ceremony when guests celebrate their graduates (although air horns and other noise makers are prohibited).
It is perfectly normal and expected that Commencement may bring up feelings of excitement, anxiety and overwhelm. It can be very helpful to share these feelings with friends, family and other trusted loved ones in order to work through them. TU's Counseling Center is also another great resource for candidates who may want advice for managing stress or anxiety related to Commencement and all it may evoke.
Candidates and guests with sensory needs or health-associated challenges that may be impacted by the environment are encouraged to bring ear protection or items that may relieve stress or agitation.
There will be one ticket release on December 4. If you are a graduate in need of the original allotment of tickets we encourage you to reach out to your fellow graduates in the same ceremony via the Guidebook App
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