For Graduates

The College provides a cap, gown, and hood at no charge to all degree candidates. They will be distributed from Campus Center, room 105, during the week of Commencement. Please note that all bills must be paid to Student Financial Services, and all library books must be returned before you can sign out regalia. Bryn Mawr requires all graduates participating in person at the ceremony to wear academic regalia.

A.B. Candidates only
Your sign-out time needs to be scheduled through a Sign Up Genius appointment; five students at a time can be accommodated in 15-minute time blocks. The link is in the email sent the second week of April. Gowns should be worn closed, caps should be worn level on the head, and tassels should be worn over the right front of the cap (you will learn at rehearsal when to turn the tassel to the left side).

Masters Candidates only
Your dates and times to sign out regalia are TBD and TBD. Tassels are worn over the left front of the cap.  

Ph.D. Candidates only
Your dates and times to sign out regalia are TBD. Tassels are worn over the left front of the cap. If you have purchased your own regalia, please let us know. Ph.D. candidates are hooded on stage during the ceremony, so we want to make sure you get your own hood.  

All Candidates
You will receive your tickets when you sign out your regalia. It is much preferred that you sign out your own regalia so that the length of your gown is appropriate and that the cap fits. 

The College lists information about stoles that students wear over their gowns and hoods in the Commencement program book. The College recognizes this visible expression of identity and culture and wants to acknowledge each publicly with a short description. If you are a group leader who plans to wear a stole, please email collegeevents@brynmawr.edu by TBD with a sentence describing the stole, the affinity group, and the culture/identity it represents.

Regalia must be returned after the Commencement ceremony. Failure to return it will result in a hefty fee ($350).

• Tickets are required for family or friends for your Commencement ceremony.
• A.B. degree candidates participating in person will be eligible for up to eight tickets for guests for the Saturday ceremony. 
• Up to twelve tickets for the Friday night ceremony will be available to Master's and Ph.D. candidates participating in person. 
• Tickets will be available for pick-up by the degree candidate when the regalia is picked up.
• The seating area will open at 4 p.m. for the Graduate ceremony on TBD and the undergraduate ceremony on Saturday. Tickets are required for all guests to enter the seating area.

The College will contract with Legacy Photographics to take a picture of each degree recipient as s/he/they accept their scrolled letter from President Cadge. The company will email you with information about how to purchase that picture. You are not obligated to do so.

Family and friends will not be able to come down the center aisle to the front of the stage or to either side of the tent to take photographs; please let them know.

GSSWSR Graduates only
Please return to the stage as soon as you have exited the tent to gather for a group photograph.

View accessibility map (PDF)

If you or one of your guests has a disability and requires accommodation for events during the weekend, the degree candidate must complete a Request for Accommodation Form; you can request the form by emailing collegeevents@brynmawr.edu.

A Request for Accommodation Form for special parking will need to be completed even if the car has handicapped-accessible license plates; demand far exceeds supply for the accessible spaces that currently exist on campus.

If sign language interpreters are needed, please let us know by TBD. Also, if a senior needs an early Garden Party Circle pick, please let us know by TBD, as well.

We can mail one invitation to parents/guardians or the guests/family members as chosen by the degree candidate. Thanks to all those who completed the form in Bionic. Please note that the invitation is not the same as a ticket. Parents/guardians or guests/family members will not get an invitation unless the information is completed on the diploma form in Bionic; please don't forget!

International students in F-1 or J-1 visa status: We recognize that your parents, guardians, and family members living in countries outside the U.S. may be planning to attend your graduation in May.  If they can make arrangements to travel, they do not need a letter of invitation to apply for a visitor's visa. The U.S. Department of State does not require an invitation and has requested that we do not issue them. If you prefer, you may write an invitation to your parents/guardians or guests and provide them with a copy of your I-20, which indicates your program end date.

Extra invitations will be available in the Conferences and Events office beginning TBD to pick up and mail. The supply, however, is limited. 

All students participating in Commencement are expected to attend rehearsal unless they notify their respective Dean's office (Janet Shapiro for GSSWSR students, May Cheng for GSAS students and deansoffice@brynmawr.edu for A.B. candidates) by TBD.

If religious reasons or a similar conflict prevent you from participating in your Commencement ceremony (Friday for graduate students, Saturday for undergraduate students), you may receive your degree at the other graduation ceremony held during the weekend. The College offers this option out of respect for students' various faith traditions and to accommodate rare personal exceptions.  Please get in touch with your dean by TBD to request this exception.

We plan for all eligible students to participate in their Commencement ceremony.  If you cannot attend the ceremony (and mandatory rehearsal) please notify your respective dean by TBD.  

At rehearsal and Commencement, students will line up alphabetically by department/major and then alphabetically within the department/major. Marshals will have the list to place students in the exact spot at rehearsals and the ceremony. The line-up is on Taylor Drive for both ceremonies and inside the lower level hallways of Old Library if it is raining.  

Friday Reception Following Graduate Ceremony

A reception will be held on Wyndham's back lawn and terrace (or inside Wyndham proper if bad weather) immediately following the ceremony.  All guests who received an invitation to the ceremony also received an invitation to this reception.  The tables and chairs on the front lawn of Wyndham are for the guests at Garden Party following Saturday's ceremony for the undergraduates.

Saturday Garden Party Following Undergraduate Ceremony

Garden Party is the traditional outdoor party/reception that follows the undergraduate Commencement ceremony and takes place on Wyndham Green (in good weather); it becomes an indoor party held in various locations in bad weather. Graduates invite family, friends, faculty, and classmates to join or visit them to celebrate, and they (or their Garden Party student) set up a circle of chairs and a small cocktail table in advance for their party. The College provides an afternoon garden party menu:  tea sandwiches, assorted tea cookies, petit fours dessert pastry, tea, and lemonade. Some families and graduates choose to bring additional food and drink, but this is entirely up to you.

In prior years, seniors have invited an undergraduate to be their Garden Party student. The student may decorate the circle with balloons, ribbons, etc., and pick up the food and beverages for the circle of guests.

There is a procedure in place to claim both an outdoor and indoor location – this is necessary so that a list of where each Senior will be is made available to all attending.  Many faculty members attend the Garden Party to congratulate students with whom they have worked, and this list is very helpful to guests (and fellow students) in finding graduates and their families. Seniors will go online on TBD to pick their outdoor spot in front of Wyndham and their rain site location among seven options. The link to the online form will be sent directly to the seniors.

Check back for the 2026 Commencement schedule!

Check back for the 2026 Commencement schedule!

Check back for the 2026 Commencement schedule!