Commencement Events

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Multireligious Service of Thanksgiving for the Class of 2013

The Divinity School's Multireligious Service of Thanksgiving for the Class of 2013 will take place on Wednesday, May 29, at 4 pm in the Memorial Church, Harvard Yard. Family and friends are welcome. Tickets are not required.

A simulcast of the service will also be broadcast in the Sperry Room, Andover Hall, at Harvard Divinity School.

Class Photo

Following the Multireligious Service of Thanksgiving for the Class of 2013, a class photograph will be taken on the steps of the 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 you by GradImages. You may also contact them at 800.424.3686.

Commencement Reception

Following the class photo, refreshments will be served from 5 to 6:30 pm, on the HDS Campus Green, located between Andover and Rockefeller Halls, for graduating students and their families and for HDS faculty and staff. All are welcome to attend; tickets are not required.

Commencement Day, Thursday, May 30, 2013

Dean's Champagne Breakfast for Graduating Students

HDS graduates should come to the tent on the HDS Campus Green (in case of rain, the Braun Room) no later than 7 am on Commencement morning. The Dean’s Champagne Breakfast for Graduating Students will start at 6:45 am. The class marshals will assist the graduates in forming a procession with HDS faculty, which will leave the Campus Green 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 the Sever Quadrangle individually.) From Sever, graduates will proceed to the Tercentenary Theatre for the Exercises. Please bring your Harvard ID, which will grant you access to Harvard Yard.

Morning Exercises

President Drew Faust will confer degrees at the 9:45 am Morning Exercises.

All degree candidates must wear academic regalia (cap and gown) to the Commencement Morning Exercises.

The Morning Exercises, which convene in the outdoor Tercentenary Theatre, are attended by approximately 32,000 degree candidates, family members, faculty, alumni, and guests. Because of limited seating capacity, this is a ticketed event, and those without a ticket will not be admitted.

Information for Families and Guests attending the Morning Exercises: 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. Lines in front of the Harvard Yard gates start forming as early as 5 am on Commencement Day. All guests will be required to show their tickets at the gates in order to enter Tercentenary Theatre. 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; please plan to arrive early, because there will be tens of thousands of people trying to get the best seats, or even only a chair to sit!

For more about tickets, see Ticket Information.

Diploma Awarding Ceremony

The Harvard Divinity School Diploma Awarding Ceremony will begin at noon in the 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 open, and tickets are not required. Family members and friends who opt to watch the Morning Exercises in the Sperry Room in Andover Hall through simulcast, or who are not attending the Morning Exercises in the Yard, should gather in Andover Lobby no later than 11 am to be escorted to the Memorial Church for the ceremony.

Commencement Luncheon

The Commencement Luncheon is held from 1 to 3 pm under the tent on the HDS Campus Green between Andover and Rockefeller halls immediately following the HDS Diploma Awarding Ceremony, about 1 pm. Tickets are required for the Commencement Luncheon. Graduating students will receive one free ticket each. Students must reserve their tickets through my.hds. Students and guests may purchase additional tickets via the Ticket Information page on this site.

A small number of lunches will be available for purchase on the day of Commencement in the Dean's Office on the 2nd floor of Andover Hall (room 203), but the number and choices will be very limited.

Should you prefer to have lunch at a restaurant in Harvard Square, or Cambridge, please make your reservations as early as possible! Every restaurant in the vicinity of Harvard Square will be completely booked with long lines on that day. Read more about restaurants in Harvard Square.

Afternoon Exercises

Following the luncheon, graduates and guests are invited to return to Harvard Yard for the Alumni Association program, from 2:30 to 4 pm, during which Harvard's President and the featured Commencement speaker deliver their addresses. Tickets are required for the Afternoon Exercises and will be available from the Registrar's Office in mid-May. Each student will receive three free tickets. Tickets do not guarantee seating; graduates will need a ticket to gain entrance to the Afternoon Exercises.

Commencement Tea

Faculty, fellows, staff, graduating students, and their families are invited to attend the Commencement Tea at the Center for the Study of World Religions, hosted by Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology and director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, and the CSWR staff, in the courtyard of the CSWR, 42 Francis Avenue, from 4 to 6 pm. tickets are not required.