Graduation at Southwestern

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Ceremonies

Graduates should arrive by 5:45 p.m. to ensure that you are ready for the ceremony at 7:00 p.m. You will meet in Lakeview E at the Hales Center, to line up and prepare to enter the auditorium. You will be walking with graduates of the same degree, so it is important to be in the proper order. Please, no glitter or silly string allowed.

• Family members should arrive by 6:50 p.m. to claim their seats, or they will be filled by guests from the overflow room. Once the academic procession begins, late arrivals will be asked to wait in the lobby until all the graduates have been seated, before proceeding into the auditorium. It is, therefore, advisable for guests to arrive well before the start of commencement.
• The ceremony should end by 8:30 p.m. A reception will be held in the lobby of the Hales Center following the commencement ceremony.
• If children become restless, families may take them to Lakeview D, located upstairs in the Hales Center. Monitors will be in the room so commencement may still be enjoyed.

• ADMISSION IS BY TICKET ONLY. KEEP YOUR TICKETS WITH YOU.
• Please request special accommodations before June 10, 2008 in order for us to meet your needs.
• Diplomas will be mailed to you after grades are final and all account balances are paid in full.

Explanation of Academic Robes

There is an Inter-Collegiate code which sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic dress, but not all colleges follow it. Doctoral robes are typically black, although some schools use robes in the school's colors. In general, doctoral gowns are similar to the gowns worn by master's graduates, with the addition of velvet stripes across the sleeves and running down the front of the gown, tinted with the disciplinary color for the degree received. The robes have full sleeves trimmed with bands of velvet instead of the bell sleeves of the master's gown. Some gowns open more at the front to display a tie or cravat while others take an almost cape-like form.

In the US, academic dress is rarely worn outside commencement ceremonies. In many American schools, the color of the hood represents the school or department that the wearer is graduating from. A number of other items, cords or sashes, may be also seen worn, representing various academic achievements.

The tassel worn on the mortarboard may indicate the university's colors, or the colors of the specific college or discipline from which the student is graduating.

The colors allocated to the various academic disciplines have been largely standardized, and are:

• Agriculture - Maize
• Arts, Letters, Humanities - White
• Business - Tan
• Commerce, Accountancy, Business - Drab
• Dentistry - Lilac
• Economics - Copper
• Education - Light Blue
• Engineering - Orange
• Fine Arts - Brown
• Forestry - Russet
• Journalism - Crimson
• Law - Purple
• Library Science - Lemon
• Medicine - Green
• Music - Pink
• Nursing - Apricot
• Oratory (Speech) - Silver Gray
• Pharmacy - Olive Green
• Philosophy - Dark Blue
• Physical Education - Sage Green
• Public Administration - Peacock Blue
• Public Health - Salmon Pink
• Science - Golden Yellow
• Social Work - Citron
• Theology - Scarlet
• Veterinary Science - Gray

Explanation of Honors

Phi Theta Kappa is an international honors society. Check out PTK's website.

Graduating with Honors – Students must meet the criteria for graduation and have a 3.75 cumulative GPA. Cumulative GPA includes all transfer credits from other colleges. All coursework from other colleges is included in the cumulative GPA, regardless of applicability to current coursework.

Honors in English – Students who have completed 15 credits of transfer classes at Southwestern with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better are eligible to enter the Honors in English program. This program encourages exceptional achievement in reading, literature and writing. Completion of the program will be recognized at commencement and on the transcript with the designation “Honors in English”.

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