Commencement

The ceremony and reception are wheelchair-accessible. If you plan on utilizing this service while in attendance, please email history-events@berkeley.edu. If you require any additional accommodation to participate fully in the commencement ceremony please contact history-events@berkeley.edu. Addtionally, we ask that please request accommodations as soon as possible since some types of accommodations take several weeks to arrange. In most cases, the University can respond to requests for accommodations up to a week prior to the event.

Register online via the Graduate Student Registration Form and Undergrad Student Registration Form until Monday, April 14th

If you have any questions, please reach out to the History Grad Advisor (history-gradadvisor@berkeley.edu) or the History Undergraduate Advisor (history-undergradadvisor@berkeley.edu).

We encourage you to allot extra time to travel around campus due to ongoing construction happening around campus. 

Tickets are required of all guests (graduating students do not require a ticket) and are available to purchase online through Cal Performances. Commencement tickets may also be purchased through Cal Performances in person at the Zellerbach Hall Ticket Office and by phone. Tickets are $15 each for those 3+ years old. 

We recommend that you purchase tickets in advance to ensure that you secure the extra seats you may need for your guests. Last minute additional tickets, if available, will be sold at the venue on Commencement Day. No tickets will be sold through the History Department.

NOTE: There is no reserved seating, so please advise your guests to arrive early. A list of items that are prohibited at graduation can be found here.

Caps and gowns are available to purchase and to rent at the Cal Student Store. 

For M.A./Ph.D.: If you are interested in purchasing a higher quality version of a cap and gown in official Berkeley Blue you may either order it from a non-campus vendor, Cap and Gowns or PhinishedGown. Cap and Gown’s price depends on the number of sets ordered on one invoice. Check the website www.capandgowns.com for details. For additional options, check www.phinishedgown.com. If you wish to order the higher quality regalia you may do so any time now, but must get your order in by mid-March as they are custom made and will take six to eight weeks to arrive. Whichever kind of regalia you choose, your tassel goes on the left of your cap/tam. Since you already have the BA, you won’t be moving it during the ceremony.

The ceremony and reception are wheelchair-accessible. There will also be an in-person ASL translator at the ceremony. If you plan on utilizing this service while in attendance, please email history-events@berkeley.edu. If you require any additional accommodation to participate fully in the commencement ceremony please contact history-events@berkeley.edu. Addtionally, we ask that please request accommodations as soon as possible since some types of accommodations take several weeks to arrange. In most cases, the University can respond to requests for accommodations up to a week prior to the event.

Arrive by 9:00am at the absolute latest. Please note that there is nowhere to store personal belongings backstage, so be sure to leave any purses, umbrellas or other items with family or friends.

For Undergraduates: IMMEDIATELY upon your arrival, please go to the grad assembly area in the second-floor Mezzanine in Zellerbach. Department staff will be distributing yellow cards in the area near the (closed) café, so please pick up the card with your name pre-printed on it. After receiving your name card, please stand in one of the two procession lines. 

For M.A./Ph.D.: If you wish to have a headshot taken by the photographer, you will need to arrive no later than 8:30am (note that there is no obligation to purchase the photo and you get a free proof). Find History staff in the backstage area on the left side of the stage as you enter the auditorium. Resist the urge to go to the right (faculty side) of the stage area, even if you are directed there by the ushers. You now look like faculty, but really still do belong on the left (student side) of the stage a bit longer. History staff will direct you to your position in line, and a map with a diagram of the stage showing how you will process. Please line up as instructed. Despite the temptation to look for family and friends, don’t veer from the procession line.

There isn't one.

For Undergraduates: Staff will direct you from the second-floor Mezzanine in Zellerbach into the graduate seating area inside the auditorium. You will be led down a center aisle and directed into the seats in front of the stage area. Do not change your seat. Do not lose your yellow card.

For M.A./Ph.D.: You will then “process” from the backstage into the seating area on stage when directed to do so. In order to avoid problems, please remain in the processional order and do not deviate from your assigned seat. Proper placement of the doctoral hood is draped over your arm. You will carry it this same way when you later walk across the stage to be hooded.

The first order of the day will be the speeches. Next is the announcement of awards and prizes. After that comes your moment in the limelight! There is a photographer positioned to capture this special moment, so exhale, and try to look relaxed.

For M.A./Ph.D.: The Ph.D.s will be first up to receive their "diplomas," The Vice Chair of Graduate Studies will be announcing the names of all graduate degree participants, and either a member of the students committee, or the Department Chair will offer a handshake and do the honor of hooding you. Graduating M.A. students will follow.

For Undergraduates: Rise when we cue your group and walk gracefully down the aisle toward the stage; smile for the camera-person; hand your yellow card to the speaker at the podium; saunter sophisticatedly across the stage as your name is announced, accepting your handshake to thunderous applause; trip light-headed back to your original seat. An usher will show the way.

A reception for graduates and their guests will immediately follow the ceremony. Light refreshments will be served.

For Undergraduates: You will receive only a souvenir certificate at graduation. Because Spring grades must still be processed, diplomas will be available about four months after the end of the term. If you need proof of graduation before then, you can request this at Cal Student Central(link is external) in 120 Sproul Hall. Please go to CalCentral online now to record a diploma mailing address. If you do not supply an alternative address by the July deadline, the diploma will be mailed to your permanent home address.

For M.A./Ph.D.: Diplomas will be mailed to your permanent address approximately 4 months after graduation. Make sure you update Cal Student Central(link is external) with your future address. If you need proof of graduation before then you can use the Certificate of Completion which will automatically be email to you from Graduate Division; please be aware of that Certificates are automatically generated by the grad div system and emailed to students as soon as all steps in the filing process have been completed AND all requirements have been met on the student’s Academic Progress Report (APR).