Commencement 2025 Guest Information

Tickets are required to enter Tercentenary Theatre for the Morning Exercises and Radcliffe Yard for the HGSE Presentation of Certificates and Diplomas.  For both ceremonies, note that a ticket guarantees entry but does not guarantee a seat.

For the University Morning Exercises, guests should plan to enter via the G2 gates, indicated on the map below.  Gates will open at 6:45 a.m.

For the HGSE Presentation of Certificates and Diplomas, tickets will be taken at the two gates identified by a green arrow with a purple dot in the image below. For General Admission (light blue), tickets will be taken at the gates.  Any guests who need to leave and reenter will require a wristband.  For Accessible Seating (green tickets), guests will keep their tickets at the entry gate so that they are able to access the Accessible Seating section.

Harvard University Morning Exercises
Information about Accessible Seating and various other accommodations is included on this map.

HGSE Presentation of Certificates and Diplomas
Guests with tickets for the Accessible Seating section for the HGSE Presentation of Certificates and Diplomas should proceed to the accessible seating section, outlined in the map below.

Included below are the routes that graduates will be taking to process from Appian Way to Tercentenary Theatre for the Univeristy Morning Exercises and the routes that graduates will take to process from their program staging locations into Radcliffe Yard.  Guests should not plan to join graduates in any of the processional routes.  These images are provided for information purposes only.

Student Processional Route from Appian Way to Tercentenary Theatre

Student Processional Route from Staging Location to Radcliffe Yard

Harvard Graduate School of Education welcomes the participation of children under 18 years of age in our Diploma Ceremony. Students who are interested in bringing their children with them as they walk across the stage must make arrangements in advance with a friend or family member who will be in charge of the child(ren). This person will bring the child(ren) to the side of the stage as graduates line-up to cross the stage. The child(ren) will then be handed off to the graduate, who will hold their hand or carry them, depending on age, as they process across the stage. The responsible friend/family member must then meet the child(ren) on the opposite side of the stage to recollect the child(ren) and bring them back to the guest seating. Alternatively, a second friend/family member could be responsible to collect the child(ren) as they exit the stage.  Children over the age of 5 will need a ticket to attend this event.

HGSE will have an extremely limited amount of overflow seating for guests who do not have tickets to the ticketed events.  The primary location for overflow seating will be in Larsen Hall.  We intend to open additional spaces on campus once the ceremony begins, but please note that this seating is extremely limited!

The majority of events will be livestreamed and can be accessed from anywhere in the world on any device with internet connectivity.  We cannot stress enough that seating for guests without tickets will be limited.

HGSE buildings will be closed throughout the day on Thursday, May 23rd to be used only by graduates.  Portable restrooms, including two accessible restrooms, will be available for all guests throughout the entirety of the day.  Guests who exit the ticketed area of Radcliffe Yard must have a wristband for reentry.  The map below shows the location of the portable restrooms in the Longfellow Hall parking lot.