Commencement 2017

Friday, May 12, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.

Schedule

9:15 a.m. — Class of 2017 Group Photo 

Graduates assemble promptly for Class of 2017 group photo on the front steps of the Creative Arts Center (in the event of rain this photo will be canceled).

10:00 a.m. — Hooding/ Commencement Ceremony 

Creative Arts Center Auditorium (CAC) Lyell B. Clay Concert Theater 

Open to public, no tickets required

Photographs

Please arrive for the group photo wearing your cap and gown. After the group photo, you will report to the 2nd floor of the CAC in the area behind the theater. Class marshals will help you line up in the proper order. This requires 30 minutes to complete. You will then proceed to the stage. Graduates will have professional photos taken upon receiving their diplomas. Ordering instructions will be available at the WVU Commencement website.

Reception

Members of the Class of 2017 and guests are invited to a reception in the Event Hall at the College of Law immediately following the Hooding/Commencement Ceremony.

History of the Hooding Ceremony

The Hooding Ceremony has its origins deep in the history of educational institutions. In Medieval times, universities were truly a collection of separate colleges, each of which was devoted to particular disciplines and professional training. At commencement time every year, the faculties of the colleges met, examined their students, and upon finding them to have satisfied all of the requirements established for the curriculum of the college, by vote of the faculty, a hood was provided to be invested upon those persons who were recommended to the university as being qualified for the degree. Over the years, the hoods became colored according to college and discipline. We follow that tradition in investing the members of the graduating class of the College of Law with the purple hood of the law, so that all present will know that these men and women have been found qualified and worthy to receive the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence.