Information for Graduates

Feel free to contact the Commencement planning team in DOS-CEEB with any questions or concerns.

 

View graduation checklists, information surrounding regalia and tickets, day-of schedules, and more.

Graduating Student Checklists

There are a number of steps to complete prior to and after Commencement. Keep yourself on track with these program-specific checklists.

Commencement 101

Class Day: May 26, 2027

The Class Day Program is a celebration of the achievements of the graduating class, with speeches, awards, and a keynote address. A reception will follow the ceremony.

Tickets are not required for Class Day events.

Commencement Day: May 27, 2027

Commencement Day is comprised of the following two events:

  • The ceremonial University Morning Exercises in Harvard Yard, where the Harvard President and the University Commencement Speaker deliver their addresses, and the president confers degrees.
  • The HLS Diploma Ceremony on Holmes Field, where the Law School Dean presents diplomas to each graduate.

Tickets are required for University Morning Exercises. Each degree candidate receives two (2) guest tickets to Morning Exercises. For more information on tickets, visit the Ticket section of this webpage.

Tickets are not required for the HLS Diploma Ceremony. However, if the HLS Diploma Ceremony is moved to the Severe Weather Plan, space will be limited and only two guests per graduate will be admitted into their graduate’s ceremony. Guests should hold onto their University Morning Exercise tickets, as these tickets will be used as their entry tickets for their graduate’s ceremony. 

Need-to-Know: The HLS Diploma Ceremony

  • Degree candidates will be called to walk across the stage by program and then by section.
  • Following the University Morning Exercises, SJDs and LLMs should proceed to Hauser Hall immediately for lineup.
  • Sections will be called to Hauser for lineup throughout the Diploma Ceremony. Please listen carefully!
  • In Hauser, you will be asked to produce your pronunciation card with the phonetic spelling of your name, which you will hand to the announcer prior to crossing the stage. Commencement staff will have extra copies and blank cards on hand.
  • After exiting the stage, you will receive your diploma and gather with your section-mates on the steps of Langdell Hall for a section photo.
  • Graduates and guests with pre-purchased lunch tickets may pick up lunch at the Lunch Tent throughout the Diploma Ceremony.

Conduct and Attire

Please note that University and School policies that prohibit disrupting or interfering with the ordinary functioning of activities on campus are applicable to Class Day, Commencement, and related events and that violation of these policies may result in removal from participation, administrative sanction, or discipline that could delay or otherwise affect degree conferral.

As in past years, graduates are welcome to express themselves with clothing decorations such as stoles, pins, or decorated tams or mortar boards, or other cloth items that can be worn or draped on their person. At the Law School diploma ceremony, graduates may not carry onto or across the stage any item, thing, or object (including HLS-issued gavels). Graduates with young children may be accompanied by them across the stage.

Business casual attire is common dress for the Class Day and Commencement ceremonies. Official Harvard regalia is required for Commencement, but not for Class Day. You are advised to wear shoes appropriate for walking on grassy areas.

All ceremonies are held outdoors, except in the event of severe weather.

Ceremony Seating

HLS Class Day and Diploma Ceremony

Seating for the Class Day and the HLS Diploma Ceremony is available on a first-come basis. Guests are not permitted to save seats for fellow guests. Extraneous items and signs will be removed from empty seats.

On Class Day, there will be a reserved seating section designated for awardees and guests of honor.

At the HLS Diploma Ceremony, there will be reserved seating sections designated for HLS faculty and HLS graduates. Graduates are not required to sit in the reserved graduate section if they would prefer to sit with their friends and family.

On Class Day and at the HLS Diploma Ceremony, accessible row-style seating will be located in a designated section of the field. Please note, pre-reserved accessible seating only guarantees seating in a section of designated rows, it does not guarantee seating up front. Guests are not required to sit in the accessible seating area if they find a seat in the general seating area that accommodates their needs. 

Learn more about and request disability accommodations for HLS Class Day and Commencement 

University Morning Exercises

Harvard Law graduates will process into University Morning Exercises together during the Class March and will be seated together in Tercentenary Theatre in Harvard Yard.

While guest tickets will grant your guests access into Harvard Yard, it does not guarantee them a specific seat. Seating is available on a first-come basis and cannot be reserved.

Learn more about general admission seating and overflow seating for Morning Exercises

Have International Guests?

For J.D. students with international guests, the Registrar’s Office can provide an invitation letter to support visa applications. You may request a Commencement invitation by completing a Document Request Form.

LL.M. and S.J.D. students will receive visa support letters via the Graduate Program office.

We encourage your guests to submit visa applications as soon as possible.

Tickets

Tickets are required for the University Morning Exercises held in Harvard Yard on Commencement Day.

  • Your “entry ticket” to Morning Exercises as a student is your Harvard ID and the lanyard you will be provided at Sunrise Breakfast on the morning of Commencement Day.
  • Each Degree Candidate receives two (2) guest tickets to Morning Exercises. Under University policy, there are no exceptions to the two ticket rule.
  • Your Morning Exercise guest tickets must be reserved through the HLS Exit and Commencement Survey, typically distributed in late April.
  • Please note: Morning Exercises guest tickets are generated by the University and cannot be replaced if they are lost.

Tickets are NOT required for any ceremonies or events on the HLS campus, including Class Day and the HLS Diploma Ceremony. However, if the HLS Diploma Ceremony is moved to the Severe Weather Plan, space will be limited and only two guests per graduate will be admitted into their graduate’s ceremony. Guests should hold onto their University Morning Exercise tickets, as these tickets will be used as their entry tickets for their graduate’s ceremony. 

Please be advised that the sale of Morning Exercise tickets is strictly prohibited.

Learn more about and request disability accommodations for HLS Class Day and Commencement 

Lunch

Graduates are provided with one (1) complimentary lunch ticket for use during the HLS Diploma Ceremony at the Lunch Tent. You will be prompted to select your lunch choice in the HLS Exit and Commencement Survey, typically distributed in late April.

Guest box lunches will be available for pre-purchase in late April. Guest lunches cannot be purchased from the lunch tent on Commencement day.

Graduate and guest lunch tickets will be available to pickup at Commencement ticket pickup.

Harkness Dining in the Caspersen Student Center will be open to graduates and guests on Class Day and Commencement Day from 7:30am – 2:30pm.

Guests are also welcome to bring their own lunches to the ceremony.

Regalia

All students participating in May Commencement Ceremonies are required to wear the official Harvard regalia sold by Herff Jones and distributed by The Harvard COOP.

Required items of official Harvard regalia include:

  • Gown
  • Hood
  • Tam
  • Tassel

All required pieces are included in Herff Jones’ “Basic Regalia Package.” All other items sold by Herff Jones (keychains, class rings, diploma frames, etc.) are optional.

Students may choose whether to purchase or rent regalia items. The following rental and purchase options are available:

  • Rental Gown, Hood and Tam
  • Rental Gown and Hood with purchase Tam
  • Rental Gown with purchase Hood and Tam

All rented regalia items must be returned after Commencement. Pickup and return windows will be announced in the coming months.

Severe Weather

University Orations Competition

One of the oldest and most cherished traditions of the Morning Exercises is the Orations Competition in which three students chosen by a panel of judges deliver an address to an assemblage of approximately 32,000.