|
|||
 |
 |
Academic Administration |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Commencement 2008This site is a snapshot of Harvard Divinity School's 2008 Commencement activities. Students may also access much of this information on HDS's student intranet. If you have questions about any of the Divinity School's Commencement activities, please email them to: commencement@hds.harvard.edu. Information about Harvard University's Commencement Exercises can be found on the Commencement Office's website. Alumni/ae Day - Wednesday, June 4Commencement Day Events - Thursday, June 5Alumni/ae Day - Wednesday, June 4Alumni/ae Day Program and Luncheon The Class of 2008 is welcome to attend the HDS Alumni/ae Day program and luncheon. You are entitled to one free ticket to the events listed below. Your free ticket and additional tickets for $25 (half price) will be available beginning May 13 in the Office of Development and External Relations, Divinity Hall, 4th Floor. Registration deadline is May 20. You must complete the Alumni/ae Day registration form in order to receive your ticket(s). Leila Kohler-Frueh, director of alumni/ae relations, coordinates the activities for Alumni/ae Day. If you have any questions or would like registration material sent to you, you may email her at alums@hds.harvard.edu.
The Divinity School Graduation Worship Service will take place on Wednesday, June 4, at 4:30 pm in the Memorial Church, Harvard Yard. Family and friends are welcome. Tickets are not necessary. Following the Graduation Worship Service, a class photograph will be taken on the steps of Memorial Church or, if it is raining, in front of the church altar. Information on how to purchase a copy of this photo will be sent to graduating students by Chappell Studios, which may also be contacted by calling 1.800.424.3686. There will be a reception on the Andover Hall front lawn, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, following the class photo for graduating students and their families. All are welcome to attend; tickets are not required. Commencement Day - Thursday, June 5President Drew Faust will confer degrees to all degree candidates at the 9:45 am Morning Exercises. Graduating students should come to the Francis Avenue parking lot, at the south end of Andover Hall (in case of rain, the Braun Room), no later than 7 am on Commencement morning. The class marshals will assist graduates in forming a procession with HDS faculty, which will leave Andover at 7:40 am in time to gather in the Sever Quadrangle by 8:05 am. (The Commencement Office has requested that graduates not go directly to Sever Quadrangle.) From Sever, graduates will proceed to the Tercentenary Theatre for the Exercises. Breakfast will be provided for graduates at Andover Hall. The gates to enter Tercentenary Theatre will open at 6:45 am on Commencement morning. Parents and guests of degree candidates who have tickets to attend the Morning Exercises should plan their arrival accordingly. All guests will be required to show their tickets at the gates in order to enter Tercentenary Theatre. All guests should be seated by 8:30 am for the start of the academic procession, which begins at 8:50 am. Tickets to the morning exercises do not guarantee seating. In case of rain, the Morning Exercises will still be held in the Tercentenary Theatre. If inclement weather is severe, the University Marshal may elect to implement the Rain Program. If the Rain Program is implemented, graduates should meet in the Braun Room in Andover Hall no later than 7 am. Your class marshals will assist you in forming a procession with HDS faculty, which will leave Andover and assemble in Sever Quadrangle by 8:15 am and proceed into the Theatre from Sever Quadrangle at 8:45 am. The President's Division will walk directly to the platform from Widener Library at 9:15 am. The Deans will present their candidates for the conferral of degrees in the usual manner. Tickets for Morning Commencement Exercises Each graduate is entitled to two guest tickets for the Morning Exercises in Harvard Yard on Thursday morning. These tickets will be available from the Office of Academic Administration in mid-May. Tickets do not guarantee seating, so parents and guests of degree candidates should plan their arrival accordingly. On Commencement morning, the Harvard Yard gates will open at 6:45 am. The Morning Exercises are mostly ceremonial; some families and friends may prefer to avoid the large crowd and instead enjoy a large-screen viewing of the Morning Exercises in the Sperry Room or the Braun Room at HDS. The exercises will also be broadcast in the Science Center and in Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall. Tickets are not required. The HDS diploma-awarding ceremony will begin at noon in Memorial Church, Harvard Yard, immediately following the Morning Exercises. Graduates will be seated in alphabetical order and by degree program. Dress for the ceremony is academic robe, headgear, and hood. Seating for guests is not limited, and tickets are not required. Family members and friends not attending the Morning Exercises should gather in Andover Lobby no later than 11:30 am to be escorted to the Memorial Church for the ceremony. The Commencement luncheon will be held on the Andover Hall front lawn immediately following the HDS diploma-awarding ceremony, at 1 pm. Tickets for this event will be available from May 5 through June 3, in the Office of Academic Administration. All graduates receive one free ticket; additional tickets may be purchased for $15. When buying your tickets, please indicate if you will need vegetarian or kosher meals. The deadline to purchase lunch tickets is June 3. Tickets can be purchased online on this website. You and your guests must each have a ticket to obtain a lunch. Although there may be extra tickets available for purchase on June 5, for $15 each, these will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis; therefore, we cannot guarantee that those without advance-purchase tickets will be able to purchase a lunch on Commencement Day. Additionally, we cannot offer refunds for unused tickets, since the catering order is based on the number of reservations made and not on the number of persons attending. Following the luncheon, graduates and guests are invited to return to Harvard Yard for the Afternoon Exercises, which will be held from 2:30 to 4 pm. Tickets are required for the Afternoon Exercises and will be available from the Office of Academic Administration in mid-May. Each graduating student will receive four free tickets. Tickets do not guarantee seating; graduates will need a ticket to gain entrance to the Afternoon Exercises. Graduating students will receive an email message in May with more detailed information. There will be a Commencement tea in the courtyard of the Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Avenue, from 4 to 6 pm, hosted by Donald Swearer director of the CSWR. Faculty, fellows, graduating students, and their families are all invited; tickets are not required. Public Transportation and Parking The use of public transportation on Commencement Day is strongly recommended. The Harvard Square stop on the MBTA's Red Line subway is directly across the street from Harvard Yard. All visitor parking for Commencement Day is at Soldiers Field Road, the Harvard Business School, and the Athletic Area, with shuttles from those locations to Harvard Square all day. Please see the special needs section for information about disability parking. If any guests will need special arrangements for the Divinity School diploma presentation portion of Commencement in Memorial Church, please contact Margaret Welsh, at 617.495.5763. There is a reserved and accessible seating section available for individuals with disabilities in Harvard Yard on Commencement Day. To make reservations, obtain tickets, transportation and/or have questions answered regarding any available services, graduating students need to contact Marie Trottier, university disability coordinator, Holyoke Center, Room 547, by calling 617.495.1859(v)/617.495.4801(TTY), or via email. Seating in this section is by confirmed reservation and ticket only. The deadline for these arrangements is Friday, May 16, 2008. However, it is recommended that you call prior to the deadline, as soon as you know that guests need these services. The university disability coordinator is responsible for all central services, including parking, as they relate to accessibility for Commencement Week. Each decision is made on a case-by-case basis, and only the university disability coordinator can authorize any of these services. If you have any questions or concerns, please be in contact with Marie Trottier's office as soon as possible Wheelchair-accessible restrooms are in the basement of Andover Hall. For the Graduation Worship Service and Commencement activities in Harvard Yard, wheelchair-accessible restrooms are located at the rear entrance of the Memorial Church and in Thayer, Weld, and Sever Halls. On Commencement Day, first aid stations will be located in Sever Hall 112, Thayer Hall 106, and Weld Hall 11. In case of emergency, medical or otherwise, please inform the nearest police officer, who will radio for help. Printed announcements will be available for graduating students to send to family and friends. Graduating students will receive two free announcements when they pick up their Commencement tickets from the Office of Academic Administration. Additional announcements will be available in April at the Harvard Coop. Academic RegaliaHistory of Harvard Regalia The emblems on the gowns' lapels are called crows' feet. They originated in the early 1800s when the coat sleeves of Harvard undergraduates had crows' feet on the lower portion. The number of crows' "toes" denoted rank. Seniors wore three, juniors, two, and sophomores, one. In the late 1800s, when Harvard was deciding on academic dress for Commencement Exercises and wanted a distinctive feature incorporated, a committee appointed by President Eliot elected to include the crows' feet. A different color emblem is used for each of the various faculties, with scarlet indicating the Divinity School Today, two crows' feet indicate an earned degree, while three indicate an honorary degree. Purchase and Rental Rental reservations for academic regalia will be taken at the Harvard Coop from March 31 to April 16, from 9 am to 9 pm, in the third-floor textbook department. Reserved caps and gowns are available for pick-up from May 29 to June 4. If graduating students do not reserve their regalia before April 16, a limited number of extra gowns and hoods will be available on a first-come-first-served basis from June 2 to June 4. There is an additional $25 late fee for these rentals. All rental regalia must be returned by June 13 in order to avoid liability of up to $500. The deadline to purchase regalia is April 16. Forms for both purchasing and renting regalia may be found on the Harvard Coop website (click on cap and gown information). It is highly recommended that graduating students go to the Harvard Coop in person to be properly fitted and provided with the correct regalia for this milestone event. For further information, please contact Nancie Scheirer by phone at 617.499.2070 or via email. Important Dates and Reminders
Contact Us
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
Copyright 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. |
comments about this page should be addressed to: Janine McCullom