Commencement 2022

Immediately following the main ceremony, Marshall graduates should check-in and assemble for the Marshall Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony at the Galen Center. Graduates will line up and enter via the designated graduate entrance. Guest seating will be offered on a first come, first served basis; tickets are not required for guests. The doors for guest seating at the Galen Center will open at 10:15 a.m.

The Marshall satellite ceremony begins at 11:15 a.m. and ends at approximately 1:30 p.m. Please remember that no graduates will be permitted to leave the ceremony until the ceremony has ended; all graduates must remain in the Galen Center for the entirety of the ceremony and recess out together.  Plans for individual celebrations after the ceremony should be scheduled no earlier than 3:00 p.m.

Students planning to participate in the Marshall Commencement Ceremony at the Galen Center must register their attendance by Thursday, April 14th.  Instructions on how to register will be sent to your USC email account on Wednesday, March 23rd.

Those who graduated in December 2021 or have an anticipated graduation date of May 2022 or August 2022 are invited to participate in commencement. Students who will not be graduating until December 2022 are welcome to participate, though their names will not appear in the Commencement Program until May 2023 and they will not be eligible to wear honor cords or sashes.

You can verify your commencement date by logging into OASIS and checking your STARS report. If your expected graduation date is incorrect, please update it by clicking on the “Other Services” tab in OASIS and clicking on the “Update Expected Graduation Term” option.

To be eligible for university honors at commencement, a minimum overall grade point average of 3.5 for cum laude, 3.7 for magna cum laude and 3.9 for summa cum laude is required at the completion of the Fall 2019 semester. University honors is determined by either the USC GPA or the combined USC and transfer GPA, whichever is lower.  USC GPAs are calculated to the third decimal place, but are never rounded up or down.  University honors are noted on academic transcripts and diplomas once all coursework is completed.  Students will be notified, at the end of April, via email when Honor Cords are available for pick-up. 

To be eligible for departmental honors, students must have a Marshall GPA of 3.5 or higher and have completed BUAD 493 and BUAD 494.  Students with Marshall Honors will be awarded a sash and will also be notified via email when they are available for pick up.

Students will receive a diploma cover during the Marshall  Undergraduate satellite ceremony. Diplomas will be mailed approximately 6-8 weeks after all coursework has been completed and verified.  Please verify your mailing address on your STARS report.  Changes to your mailing address may be on OASIS.

The Marshall satellite ceremony is for graduating Marshall undergraduate majors only.  Students will be required to check-in with his/her designated Marshall grad pass.  Instructions on how to receive your grad pass will be sent to your USC email on Monday, May 2nd.  This grad pass is not required for the main USC commencement ceremony.  

Marshall graduates should make their way to the Galen Center to line-up by 10:50 a.m. or immediately following the main ceremony. The line-up opens immediately following the main ceremony.  Line-up entrance will be in the south side of the Galen Center through the fire entrance.

Commencement Marshals will be directing the line-up, processional, and seating. Please pay attention to instructions and announcements from the Marshals on the day-of.

Graduates are not allowed to bring food, drink, or bags of any kind (including backpacks) to the ceremony.  Each graduate should be prepared to enter through a metal detector for security purposes.

Seating for graduates is not assigned.  Graduates are welcome to line up with friends; however, there is no guarantee students will be able to sit next to their friends due to the flow of the line up and seating arrangement.

All commencement activities are alcohol and substance-free events.  We will be enforcing a zero-tolerance policy which means students should not attempt to bring alcohol and other substances to the ceremony.  Any alcohol brought to the ceremony will be thrown away by security.

Additionally, any student who is visibly intoxicated, disruptive, or exudes inappropriate behavior will be escorted out of the line-up or the ceremony by event staff and security.

Tickets are not required for guests.

Each guest should be prepared to enter through a metal detector for security purposes.  Strollers must be left in the reserved lobby spaces and are not permitted into the seating areas. 

Per Galen Center seating policies, guests are not allowed to save seats for large parties. Only one (1) seat may be saved on either side of a seat. Please make sure your entire party arrives and enters Galen together.

During the ceremony, standing in the aisles and obstructing views is prohibited.

Guests who require wheel chair access will be offered priority seating, beginning at 10:15 a.m.  The entrance for ADA seating is located on the north side of the Galen Center, off of Jefferson Blvd.  There is also a drop-off area on the same street with a regressed sidewalk.  Seating in the ADA section is not ticketed and is offered on a first-come, first, served basis. 

Graduates who are physically disabled should identify themselves to staff when entering the line-up area so that they may be seated where they will have access to a ramp.

To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite guest entry into the venue, the Galen Center will be implementing a “clear bag policy” that limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into the arena for all events (one clear bag no larger than 12” x 6” x 12” per person). The policy does not affect other items that fans normally bring to a game, which still can be carried in their pockets or openly in their arms. Also, for increased security, all guests entering the Galen Center walk through metal detector screening with arms raised (guests should remove metal items from pockets).

• All non-clear bags, Backpacks, Hard or Soft Coolers or Baskets and Bottles or Cans
• Alcoholic beverages and illegal drugs
• Weapons including firearms, knives, explosives, fireworks and laser pointers
• Professional cameras (lenses longer than 3") or video and/or audio equipment
• Banners, sticks and poles, inflatables, umbrellas, ballons, strollers and folding or beach chairs
• Horns or other noisemakers, musical instruments or large music players
• Frisbees, balls, skateboards or hard fruit
• Pets (Service Animals OK)

In order to ensure a safe and celebratory environment, we ask that graduates and guests refrain from the following behavior at all Galen Center events.

• Profanity or other offensive language, whether spoken or appearing on apparel
• Smoking, other than in designated areas
• Intoxication or excessive alcohol consumption
• Bringing prohibited items into the venue 
• Throwing of items or liquids
• Enter the graduate seating area at any time
• Fighting or other threatening behavior
• Violation of state or local law

Failure to comply may subject you to ejection or arrest.  Guest are encouraged to report inappropriate behavior to management personnel.  We welcome your help in our efforts to provide an enjoyable experience for all guests.

There will be an informal reception immediately following the Marshall Undergraduate Ceremony on the Bridge Hall Lawn between Bridge Memorial Hall and Hoffman Hall. 

Complete information including a link to the Live Stream of the ceremony is available on the main Marshall Commencement Page.

Live video feed: A live video feed of the ceremony will be available on the Marshall website on May 13, 2022