Class of 2023 Commencement Exercises

Parking on campus for graduation is available in all student and staff lots at no charge and with no permits required. Graduates, families, and friends may park in any ungated lot or in any unmarked, unpainted, or unreserved space along any street on campus. Graduates and their guests should plan to arrive early to avoid traffic delays. For further details, including maps for accessible parking, please visit our Parking page.

Those with disability license plates/placards/or State issued disability IDs will be allowed to park in designated areas near the PMAC. For further details, including maps for accessible parking, please visit our Parking page.

At this time, there is no limit on the number of guests that may attend, and no tickets will be issued for entry. Guest seating is available on a first come, first seated basis. Guests planning to sit together should enter the venue together, as seats may not be saved.

Accessibility Seating in the PMAC: Accessible seating for guests will be available in the upper level of the arena; an elevator is located on the lower level at the Southeast Portal. All seating for guests with disabilities is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not needed.

Graduates will participate in a formal processional.  Graduates will receive a numbered card at check-in.  DO NOT LOSE THIS CARD.  Upon check in, enter the PMAC through the Southwest Portal and proceed to the Northwest Portal.  Students will line up in numerical order as directed by Law Center staff.  You must be in your line up position no later than 11:45 am for final processional roll call.  The dean, faculty, and other members of the platform party will process first.  The dean will announce the class, and the student processional will begin.  Law Center staff will direct the processional.

The ceremony is expected to last approximately 1.5 – 2 hours.  The ceremony is being offered in-person and via livestream.  Go to this link on the day of the ceremony to access the livestream.

Graduates must bring the card they receive at check-in with them to the stage for the calling of the roll.  The card will be scanned when names are called to display the names on the large screens in the PMAC.

The academic hood you received with your regalia signifies an advanced degree and denotes scholarly and professional achievements.  By long-standing tradition, academic hoods are not worn until formally placed on the graduate by officials of the university.  You should hold your hood at your seat until called to the stage for the calling of the roll and official hooding.

During the calling of the roll, graduates should arrive at the stage with their hoods draped neatly over the left arm and then provide the hood to the officials on the stage as they enter.  Graduates will be formally hooded once they enter the stage by Assistant Dean of Students Jake Henry and Professor Darlene Goring, 2023 Professor of the Year.

At the conclusion of the program, graduates will be guided in a formal recessional through the Southeast Portal.  Law Center staff will direct the recessional.  Guests should plan to meet graduates outside the venue. The facility will need to be cleared in a timely fashion to allow for sanitation and other cleaning requirements as another ceremony will follow.

Clear bags are not required for this event, but all bags will be checked upon entry.

Any questions or comments related to commencement should be sent to lawgraduation@lsu.edu. Questions and comments sent to individual staff members may cause a delay in response.