Commencement

Rehearsal is in the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary and begins at 8:00 a.m. for 10:00 a.m. services and 1:00 p.m. for 3:00 p.m. services. Rehearsal is required for all students planning to participate in Commencement. Graduates must be on time for rehearsal. Students who do not attend rehearsal will not be allowed to walk in the Commencement Service. Attendance at rehearsal will be checked.

Ladies, for security reasons, leave purses and other valuables locked in a vehicle when coming to rehearsal. We are not able to secure them during the ceremony. Undergraduate students graduating with honors will receive medals during rehearsal.

Robing and Processional

Immediately following the rehearsal, graduates will follow the assigned faculty marshal to a designated room for line up. The faculty marshal will assist in lining up alphabetically. At the appropriate time, the processional will proceed to the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary. Upon arrival at the designated seat, please remain standing until told to be seated. Men remove their caps for prayer.

Graduates may purchase regalia at Grad Finale. Graduates who are unable to attend Grad Finale, are required to purchase regalia through Barnes & Noble at DBU at least two weeks before the commencement day. Gowns look best when they have been on a hanger for several days before wearing; carefully touching up with an iron is also helpful.

Clothing Requirements

Men

Wear a white or light-colored shirt with a tie under the robe, long dark trousers, and dark shoes and socks. No sandals, flip flops, or athletic shoes.

Women

Wear slacks, a dress or a skirt. If the garment is visible below the hem of the gown, a dark color must be worn. Dark-colored shoes including open toe dress sandals are acceptable. No shoes of bright colors, no casual sandals, flip flops, western boots, or athletic shoes.

The mortarboard (cap) should rest flat on top of the head with the point well down on the forehead (not on the back of the head or tilted to either side). No signs, symbols, or other decorations are to be placed on your mortarboard.

No stoles, clerical, or society insignia may be worn on the robe or around your neck. Only DBU honor medals (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude, and university honors scholar) may be worn.

At the time of conferring degrees, graduates will be asked to stand. The person calling the names will make an introductory statement. Following that statement, the first row of candidates will move into the assigned position. Other rows remain seated until it is their turn. Faculty marshals will direct graduates when it is time to stand and move into position. Graduates will first form a line for photos and then move to a designated stopping point. As names are called, the representative from the Registrar’s Office will indicate when graduates are to walk toward the president to receive their diploma. Graduates should wait until their name is called before proceeding across the stage. After receiving the diploma, graduates return to assigned seats.

The Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary will open for guests approximately 45 minutes prior to the beginning of the commencement service. Please communicate this information to those invited to attend the service. Remember that graduates are asked to limit invited guests to no more than eight.

Seating is on a first-come/first-served basis. Guests may reserve seats for others not yet present only until 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the commencement service.

To ensure safety for all in attendance, guests are not permitted to stand in the aisles, entrances, exits, and passageways of the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary.

Handicap Seating

Handicap seating is available in the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary. Handicapped guests can be driven to the front of Pilgrim Chapel for access to the sanctuary. DBU security officers will be stationed throughout the campus grounds on the day of Commencement. Upon campus arrival, guests should notify a DBU security officer that they need to proceed to the handicap entrance. If you have any questions regarding handicap seating, please call 214-333-6823.

Some colleges and universities have both a baccalaureate religious service and a commencement ceremony for graduating students. At Dallas Baptist University, both programs are merged together into one event. DBU considers the graduation ceremony to be a worship experience, as well as an opportunity to recognize our graduates for their achievements.

The commencement service at DBU is designed to be a spiritual and reverent ceremony. Cheering and yelling during the reading of the graduates’ names are not permitted. Thus, the University requests that the audience hold all applause until the end of the service after all the graduates in each degree area have been presented their diplomas. Please be sure to share this information with family and friends so that they are not embarrassed during the ceremony.

To ensure a respectful and non-disruptive environment for the graduates and their guests, DBU prohibits noisemakers of any kind. The University asks all guests to refrain from cheering, yelling, or creating loud outbursts during the degree presentations. Balloons, posters/signs, horns, whistles, and other noise devices are not permitted in the sanctuary.

Commencement services typically run between 90 and 120 minutes in length. Small children are rarely able to remain quiet for this extended period, and very often are uncomfortable trying to do so. Children under the age of five may not attend commencement services. While children do not intend to be disruptive, talking, crying, and similar behaviors are not uncommon for children of this age. Should children be brought to the service and become disruptive, parents may be asked to take the child outside of the sanctuary.

Accommodations for children and their parents are available in the lower level of the Pilgrim Chapel, Room LL05, where the remote broadcast of the service may be viewed.

Recessional

Following the closing prayer, the platform party will exit the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary first, followed by the faculty and then the graduates. Faculty marshals will direct the recessional out of the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary and to the reception. Guests will be asked to remain in their seats until all graduates have exited the building. Graduates will have the opportunity to greet family and friends following commencement services.

Reception Honoring Graduates

Graduates will exit the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary at the conclusion of the service and make their way to the commencement reception. As the graduates exit, guests are asked to remain seated, and not fill the aisles. Guests are invited to join their graduates at the reception. Graduates will not return to the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary after exiting.

Receptions for commencement services are held in the Hillcrest Great Hall in the John G. Mahler Student Center.

A room will be available for a remote broadcast of the commencement service in the lower level of the Pilgrim Chapel, Room LL05. This room will accommodate children and parents as needed. The room will be supplied with coloring books and crayons.

The remote broadcast will also be available in the lower level of the Pilgrim Chapel, Rogers Theater, for adult guests unable to be seated in the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary.