WHAT HAPPENS AT THE 2023 COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES ON FRIDAY, JUNE 16?
[The livestream for each ceremony will be available at https://commencement.ucla.edu]
Graduates must arrive for their ceremony one hour early at the Los Angeles Tennis Center (LATC) on campus, so that they can assemble for the procession. Their procession into Pauley Pavilion will begin 30 minutes before the ceremony start time. The graduates will be guided by volunteers from LATC to Pauley, and they will enter Pauley through the tunnel and sit in chairs on the floor of the arena. Graduates must remain in their seating area during the ceremony.
Please note: In LATC, graduates will have their student tickets scanned, and they will be checked to be sure they are sober, they are wearing appropriate attire, and they are not bringing anything into Pauley that is not allowed.
Small handbags, purses, and diaper bags are allowed, but bags will be searched by security staff at the door to ensure no outside food, alcohol, or weapons are present. In order to reduce the time to get into the venue, we strongly recommend leaving all bags in cars. Backpacks and duffle bags are not permitted in any venue.
Guests of the graduates should come to campus early and should enter Pauley Pavilion an hour before the ceremony, using their tickets. Please be prepared for road closures and detours — it is wise to come extremely early, to ensure you can park wherever you are directed and can navigate through campus to Pauley (https://map.ucla.edu). It is open seating, and if a guest needs accessible seating, they can request to be guided to that seating when they arrive at Pauley.
Guests will sit in the arena and can watch for their graduates’ arrival through the tunnel. Again, the graduates start arriving through the tunnel 30 minutes before the ceremony.
The ceremony must begin on time (at 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m., or 7:00 p.m.), with the Official Party entering the stadium floor and sitting on the stage. The program will include speakers, singers, and opportunities for the graduates to be recognized for their accomplishments, but as groups — such as all Honors students, all students who have conducted research, etc. Graduates, while they are in the graduate seating area, will be asked to stand for a few moments to be cheered. No graduates cross the stage at the College Commencement in Pauley, and no individual students have their name read at this ceremony. Individual recognition of students takes place at the departmental ceremonies. If graduates still need tickets to their departmental ceremony, they need to contact their academic departments directly for assistance.
The Chancellor will confer our graduates’ degrees at this ceremony. Our graduates will turn their tassels and hear the Alma Mater and the UCLA fight song. Then, the graduates will be directed to exit Pauley through the same tunnel they used to enter the stadium.
After the ceremony, graduates and their guests will need to meet at locations away from Pauley Pavilion, so that the venue can be prepared for the next ceremony. Please make a plan and pick a spot to meet up after the event. The farther from the Pauley the better, because of the crowds that will be in the area. We have three ceremonies in a single day for the College of Letters and Science. When your ceremony is finished, other graduates and guests will be approaching Pauley.
The campus commencement website (https://commencement.ucla.edu) has important information for guests. Please consult that page for information about attendee expectations, parking, bag policy (i.e., whether bags can be brought by guests to events), and other details.
NOTE: You must use your specific ticket for the particular time printed on it — the ceremonies and the tickets are not interchangeable.