Key Dates & Events for Commencement

October 1, 2021

December 2021 degree candidates ought to have completed and submitted their “Application for Degree” by this deadline. If you are a December graduate and did not complete this form or need to edit what was submitted, please contact the Registrar’s Office immediately.

February 4, 2022

Undergraduate Students

Students completing degree requirements in spring 2022 should notify the Registrar’s Office of your intent to graduate by completing the “Application for Degree.” This form must be completed regardless of your intention to attend the Commencement Ceremony or not. The form will be available online as a link through your myGoucher account until February 4. If you do plan to attend the May ceremony, this form is used to verify your name, permanent address, degree, etc.. If you do not plan to attend the ceremony, the Application for Degree is used to confirm your permanent address on record, which is where your diploma will be mailed. Any student who has not submitted this form by February 1 must contact the Registrar’s Office for assistance and will be charged a $20.00 late fee.

All August 2022 degree candidates must also complete the “Application for Degree,” by February 4. Students who are completing degree requirements in summer 2022 are not automatically permitted to walk in the May 2022 Commencement Ceremony. Students may be permitted to walk in the spring ceremony only if they are approved to do so by Associate Provost Moreno-López.

Any May or August degree candidates who do not submit the Application for Degree form by February 4 must contact the Registrar’s Office for assistance and will be charged a $20.00 late fee.

Graduate Students

Students completing degree requirements in spring 2022 should notify the Welch Center for Graduate and Professional Studies of your intent to graduate by completing the “Application for Degree.” This form must be completed regardless of your intention to attend the Commencement Ceremony or not. The form will be available until April 15 (please follow the link in the original email). If you do plan to attend the May ceremony, this form is used to verify your name, permanent address, degree, etc.. If you do not plan to attend the ceremony, the Application for Degree is used to confirm your permanent address on record, which is where your diploma will be mailed.

All December 2021and August 2022 degree completers who wish to participate must notify Tanya Hemmeian at Tanya.Hemmeian@goucher.edu.

April 15

Regalia 

Goucher College will be working with Herff Jones in regards to regalia and graduate paraphernalia. We are working to get the Herff Jones website up and running. You will receive a link and code to order your regalia and graduate paraphernalia after the February 4 Application for Degree deadline. Payment will be processed at the time you submit your order.

Our 2022 Commencement Regalia website has closed as of April 15th. 

If you have not yet ordered your regalia, and are planning on attending commencement, please contact the College Store at customer.service@goucher.edu for options.

May 6

Undergraduate Students

The last day for August degree candidates to petition to walk in the May ceremony is May 6. Students petitioning to walk in the May ceremony must fill out the online petition form to walk at Commencement. This request will be sent to the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies for approval.

Graduate Students

The last day for August degree candidates to petition to walk in the May ceremony is May 6. An petition to walk at Commencement must be sent to the student’s program director, requesting permission to walk. If approved, the Registrar’s Office will be notified.

Convocation

The Goucher community celebrates the academic and artistic achievements of its students, faculty and staff at the annual Convocation celebration. Convocation not only recognizes academic honors, it also celebrates artistic and civic achievements.

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Latinx Triunfos

The ceremony will reflect the unity of our students who identify as Hispanic and Latino/a/x while embracing the nuanced differences of cultures.

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Lavender Ceremony

The ceremony is an annual celebration conducted on numerous campuses to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual students and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the college.

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Donning of the Kente

During the intimate ceremony, graduating seniors will be donned with a stole of kente, a fabric native to Ghana reserved for special occasions, and acts as a visual history for the wearer’s own cultural ethos.

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Phi Beta Kappa Program

The Annual Spring Initiation Ceremony will take place at 11am on Thursday, May 26th in the Forum of the Athenaeum, as we welcome 34 students from the Class of 2022 into the Society. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest national honor society in the United States, and only the top 10% of graduates are elected to join. 

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International Student Reception

The reception is an opportunity to honor Goucher’s international students and students who strongly identify as having an international background.

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TBA

Baccalaureate Service

Baccalaureate will be Thursday, May 26, at 4:30 pm in Kraushaar Auditorium. We invite all graduates, families, friends, faculty, and staff to reflect on the meaning of the college experience and the transition of commencement, through responsive readings, prayers from many religious and ethnic traditions in different languages, music, and reflections from a graduate and a faculty or staff member.

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May 25, 2023 10:30 a.m.

Commencement

Margaret M. Winslow Great Lawn, Processional Line-up – All students participating in the Commencement Ceremony must report to Kraushaar Auditorium at 9:00 a.m.

Reception immediately following Commencement at about 1 p.m.

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