Lee University will hold its Commencement ceremonies for spring graduates May 7-8. In order to better facilitate all attendees while honoring safe distancing, there will be six separate ceremonies held in the Paul Dana Walker Arena, which graduates will attend according to their designated department or school.
More than 630 degrees are set to be conferred throughout the commencement weekend. Each graduation ceremony will combine Commissioning and Commencement, which were previously two separate ceremonies, celebrated on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in a given graduation weekend. The six services will feature elements from both the traditional Commissioning and Commencement exercises, with student speakers and the presentation of Bibles and diplomas. The Lee Singers will provide special music for the ceremony with a video presentation.
In lieu of having one keynote address, there will be two students per ceremony sharing their Lee experiences.
The first ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 7, for undergraduates from the Department of Communication Arts and the School of Music.
The second ceremony, for undergraduate students from the departments of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, and Natural Sciences, will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 7.
The third ceremony will be held for undergraduates from the School of Nursing, School of Religion, and Lee Online on Friday, May 7, at 7 p.m.
The fourth ceremony will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 8, honoring master’s level graduates.
The fifth ceremony, held for undergraduates of the Department of Language and Literature and the Helen DeVos College of Education, will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 8.
The final commencement ceremony, recognizing undergraduates from the Department of History, Political Science, and Humanities and the School of Business, will start at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 8.
The primary venue, Paul Dana Walker Arena, will require a guest ticket. Livestream viewing will be available at livestream.com/leeu and in venues across campus for guests who do not receive a primary venue ticket. Guest seating is socially distanced and designated as general seating and guests will be required to wear masks and complete a health screening before entry to each venue.
Due to the pandemic, this is the university’s first in-person graduation since December 2019. The 2020 graduates were invited to march at any of the three graduations in 2021, 48 of whom are scheduled to walk this spring.
For more information about commencement exercises, contact the Academic Events Office at academicevents@leeuniversity.edu or visit leeuniversity.edu/academics/graduation-info/.