What are the Hooding & Commencement ceremonies?

At the end of spring semester, hooding is a ceremony for graduate students only—not undergraduates. It takes place on the last Friday afternoon of the semester and involves a procession of students and faculty into the Spectrum arena, where graduating students are called up by name to have their degree hood placed on their shoulders and their diploma presented to them. Commencement usually takes place the following morning and is a grander, though less personal ceremony. Again, there is a procession into the Spectrum, where speeches are made and the degrees are formally conferred on both graduates and undergraduates. Family and friends are welcome to attend both the Hooding and the Commencement ceremonies.