Doors will open one hour prior to ceremony start. No tickets required.
University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson and Associate Provost for Graduate Education and Dean Amanda Thein will deliver messages to students. An Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be bestowed upon Rita Dove, graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (MFA ’77) and former U.S. Poet Laureate. Graduate Redwan Bin Abdul Baten of Bangladesh will be the student speaker.
Ceremony Information
To be eligible to participate, you must be a Spring or Summer 2022 degree applicant who submitted an RSVP in MyUI prior to the deadline (Sunday, April 10, 2022 at 11:59 PM CT). Degree applicants from previous semesters will not be permitted to participate in this spring's in-person ceremony.
At this time, tickets are not required for spring Graduate College ceremonies.
Doors to the arena will open one hour prior to the start of the ceremony. Graduates should arrive no later than 15 minutes after the doors open.
Public Safety officials will search any purses or bags brought into the building. Everyone will be asked to open their coat, jacket, or graduation gown for visual inspection.
No backpacks, large bags, packages, wrapped gifts, balloons, flowers, or outside food and beverage (with the exception of one factory sealed or empty reusable water bottle) are allowed at Carver-Hawkeye Arena during this event.
Carver-Hawkeye now has a clear bag policy. The following items are allowed inside Carver-Hawkeye. All permitted items and patrons are subject to search and will be tagged at entrance.
- Bags that are clear plastic, vinyl or PVC that do not exceed 12"x6"x12"
- Clutch bags that do not exceed 4.5"x6.5"
- Factory-sealed water bottles or empty, refillable bottles [Limit one (1), under one (1) gallon]
- Medically necessary items (including equipment for nursing parents and diaper bags)
See a full list of Carver-Hawkeye Arena commencement policies.
Limited parking will be available within walking distance of Carver-Hawkeye Arena at Parking Lot 75 (Arena), Parking Lot 65 (Finkbine), and Parking Lot 43 (Kinnick), at no-cost on a first come, first served basis. Guests with state-issued ADA parking placards should use Parking Lot 33 (Dental). Newton Road Parking Ramp and Hospital Parking Ramp 3 are public parking facilities available at an hourly rate. Please allow extra time for travel. A parking map can be found here.
Graduates should plan to arrive no later than 10:15 a.m. to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with their tam, hood, and gown. Graduates will enter through Carver-Hawkeye Arena's East Doors and proceed down the arena stairs to the floor. There, graduates will stop at the appropriate name card table to pick up and fill out their name card. This is used by both the name reader and Flash Photography during the ceremony. Please check the card for accuracy and make any necessary changes/corrections. Graduates should then find their faculty hooder, if applicable, and make their way to the graduate seating area and sit down. In the seating area, graduates should be wearing their tam and gown, with their hood draped over their left arm. Graduate College staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and provide assistance throughout the ceremony.
At 11:00 a.m., the ceremony will be called to order by Associate Dean Campo. Graduates and guests will be invited to stand as the academic procession is led to their seats on stage by Associate Provost and Dean Amanda Thein and President Barbara J. Wilson.
Once the academic procession is seated on the stage, graduates and guests will view the Celebrating Iowa video.
There will be a brief welcome by Associate Provost and Dean Amanda Thein.
An Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be awarded to Rita Dove by President Barbara J. Wilson and Associate Provost and Dean Amanda Thein.
Doctoral degrees will be conferred by President Barbara J. Wilson and Associate Provost and Dean Amanda Thein.
Graduates will be invited row by row to come forward and be hooded. Graduates will take their name card up with them, hand it to the person reading names at the podium, then proceed across the stage to be recognized by the Dean and the President. Graduates should have their hood draped over their left arm as they come up to the stage.
As graduates move from the stage back to their seats, they will have a professional photo taken by Flash Photography.
Once all graduates have been hooded, fellow graduate, Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, will give brief remarks, followed by closing remarks from President Barbara J. Wilson.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the academic procession will leave the stage. After the academic procession has cleared the floor, graduates are free to leave.
In order to provide an environment in which graduates and guests all have an enjoyable experience, the following rules of behavior will be enforced at all ceremonies:
- No alcoholic beverages of any kind
- Inappropriate dress and costumes worn under gowns will not be allowed
- Cell phones must be turned off or silenced in the graduate seating area
- No flowers, purses, gifts, balloons, or bags will be allowed in the student seating area
- Marshals and security staff will be looking for intoxicated persons. Inebriated students are not permitted to participate.
With everyone's cooperation, this occasion will become a proud and happy memory of your academic achievement at the University of Iowa.
Graduate student apparel can be rented or purchased online at herff.ly/iowa. The deadline for purchasing apparel is Thursday, March 10th, at 10:59 PM Central Time. The deadline for renting apparel is Monday, April 18th, at 10:59 PM Central Time. If you have questions, please contact Herff Jones at gradmidwest@gmail.com or (952) 447-4449. It is your responsibility to be sure rented apparel is returned to Herff Jones within two weeks of the ceremony. Apparel cannot be returned at the ceremony and must be shipped directly to Herff Jones using the prepaid shipping label included in your apparel box.
Business attire is suggested but not required. Graduates are cautioned regarding their choice of footwear, as stairs and floor may be difficult to navigate. Wearing high-heeled footwear is not advised. Bags or purses may not be carried or left in the graduate seating area. Please plan to not bring these items in or leave them with your guests. It's also important to note Carver-Hawkeye Arena's clear bag policy.
Decorating caps and gowns is not permitted. Flowers are not to be worn on gowns or carried in hand. Caps are to be worn with the tams or mortar boards horizontal and the tassel on the left. Tams/mortar boards should be worn during the academic procession to the stage, while degrees are being conferred, and as the academic procession departs the stage. However, they may be removed at other times.
**NEW DEADLINE**
Faculty hooders are responsible for obtaining their own apparel from Herff Jones online at herff.ly/iowafaculty
before April 13th, 2022, at 10:59 PM CT.
Faculty will NOT be able to pick up their apparel at the ceremony. Please be prepared to share a shipping address when ordering. Apparel must be returned to Herff Jones within two weeks of the ceremony using the prepaid label in the box.
If you have questions, please contact Herff Jones at gradmidwest@gmail.com or 952-447-4449.
Please return your apparel within one week of the ceremony. There is return information included in the regalia box, along with a prepaid return label. If you lost your prepaid label or did not receive one in your package, please use the link below to request a new label. Your confirmation number to request a new label begins with CPA and is found in your confirmation email. You may use any box to ship the regalia back, it does not have to be the box it was shipped to you in.
Watch Live
The ceremony will be livestreamed at the scheduled time and day with captions enabled.
If you cannot watch the ceremony during the livestream, the video will be uploaded to the University of Iowa YouTube channel approximately one week after the ceremony.