Good evening, everyone. Hello. Welcome. For those of you who are returning, welcome back. Thank you so much for joining us for our third webinar of the spring. I can't believe we are at number three, which means we have crossed spring break, and we're closer to the end of this incredible semester. 

My name is Jason Meier. I use he/him his pronouns, and I serve as the Associate Dean of Student Engagement within the Dean of Students Office at Harvard College. We are thrilled to have you here tonight. And I will once again be one of your moderators, right alongside my colleague, Katie Patrick, who will introduce herself right now. 

Thanks so much Jason. Hi, everyone. My name is Katie Patrick. I use she/her pronouns. I am the coordinator for orientation and family engagement. I work alongside Jason and Lily Castro to coordinate our orientation programs and family engagement events such as this. We are so excited to have you all here. As Jason mentioned, this is our third webinar of the spring semester. We are hosting four webinars throughout the spring that cover house life and housing day, career services, commencement in the Harvard Alumni Association, which is today. 

And then a final 2023-2024 academic year wrap up conversation with some of the leaders from around the college. This webinar series was designed to allow us to share information with families all at one time, instead of just during family weekend when we traditionally held these conversations. We also started a series like this during the summer for our incoming first year families and we had a really great turnout on those, so we wanted to extend this experience to all families. Tonight, we have some amazing folks joining us to discuss commencement in the Harvard Alumni Association. 

Before we move into our discussion, we have a few quick tips and tricks for tonight. First, this session is being recorded and we will be posting the recordings to our parent and family engagement website. That link will also be shared in the newsletter reminder to register for our very last webinar. Following this session, you will also receive a quick survey. Please make sure to take just a few moments to fill that out. 

Your feedback really, really matters and really, we appreciate all of that. We want to make sure that we're bringing all the information that you want to hear, we're bringing different panelists that you would like to hear more about. So that survey really helps me navigate what you are all looking for. During this webinar we will also have the Q&A feature open. 

So as you have questions pop up, please feel free to put them in there. We will do our best to answer as many as we can in real time but we may not be able to get to all of them. But again, we will do our best. So feel free that-- to put any questions in the Q&A as soon as you want. Right now even. We are happy to jump in and start going. 

Right now. 

Right now. 

[CHUCKLES] 

And then finally, our panelists are all really excited to talk about all things commencement in the Harvard Alumni Association, but if you have any questions that live outside of this topic, feel free to send us an email and we are happy to connect you with any resources. We'll share all the different contact information from our panelists, as well as Jason and I at the end. So if you have any questions, let us know. 

That's right. And the last little thing we want to make sure that you're all aware of, is a piece of federal law that impacts everything we do, right? So maybe you've heard of FERPA, which is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. In short, this federal law states that a student's records belong to them and them alone. 

And so as students are in charge of their own records and information, we will not be sharing that information with anyone other than their students. So if you have questions specific to your student's case, I would make sure that you are engaging with your student directly. And you can learn way more about FERPA by checking on this link that Katie has provided in the chat. 

Awesome. Thanks, Jason. So now to kick us off, I would like to bring our panelists forward and have them introduce themselves. And we are going to start off the evening with Stephan. 

Thank you so much, Katie and Jason. Hello. I'm Stephan Magro. I'm the University's commencement director. Should we just keep it to an introduction, and I'll do the history in just a minute. Thank you so much. And by the way, I'm so excited to be here with everybody. So, thanks for joining us. 

Thank you so much, Stephan. Next is Erika. 

Good evening, everybody. I'm Erika McDonald. I'm the registrar for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 

Awesome. Thank you. Next is John. 

Hey everybody. Thanks so much for joining. My name is John Prince. I'm a staff member at the Harvard Alumni Association, working in the College Alumni Programs Office and I graduated from the college in the class of 2013. I lived in Eliot House. 

Awesome. Thank you, John. Next we have Carvina. 

Hello. I'm Carvina Williams. I'm the undergraduate coordinator of the Dudley Community and I'm really happy to be able to spend an hour or so with you all. 

Thank you, Carvina. And last but not least, we have Beth. 

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the webinar. My name is Beth Terry. I'm the administrator of Lowell House, one of the 12 undergraduate houses at Harvard. 

Awesome. Thank you, Beth. And thank you so much again to all of our panelists. We're so excited to have you here this evening. And to kick us off again, we're going to have Stephan join us. And Stephan, our first question for the evening for you is, can you tell us a little bit about the history and traditions of commencement. 

It's my favorite subject and I would be more than happy to do so. I'm going to try to keep this to five minutes or less. I don't-- I hope no one's timing me, but let's see here. In 1642, with just nine senior's offices, they were called in those days, the first Harvard commencement occurred. It was held indoors in the old Old College Hall. It was a beautiful e-shaped building where Gray is now sits in the southeastern part of Harvard Yard and it was built in the English style, which, as you can imagine, hardly lasted 35 years in the harsh New England weather. 

Something I think your kiddos are probably well accustomed to. President Dunster served as host, registrar, resident Dean, Faculty Dean, University Marshal, and Commencement Director and all those days. But he did the least amount of speaking as the students themselves had to offer their graduation disputations. Again, as they were delivered in English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. And this is on September 23, 1642. Roughly 380 years ago. 

In the early years there were no registrars, or diplomas as such. If a senior sophist wanted a diploma, they had to make one themselves and bring it to the president to sign as proof of their graduation from Harvard. And they don't do that anymore, thank goodness. Erica would be very frustrated. Much, so very much has happened since those early centuries. Four centuries since. Here are just a few of my favorite parts. 

In 1650, we created Harvard's official charter, over a century and 1/4 older than the United States Declaration of Independence. In 1665, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck graduated as the first Native American or First Nation person from Harvard. He was of the Wampanoag tribe, right here on the Coast. In 1692, in the shadows of the Salem Witch Trials, Harvard presented its very first honorary degree to leaders with names I think you'll find quite familiar. William Brattle, John Leverett, Increase Mather. 

And those were teachers and leaders that helped keep Harvard moving forward through extremely turbulent times. President Ben Wadsworth and his wife, Ruth had built for them the very first residence of the Harvard presidents in 1727. And this is the University's second oldest, still standing building. And it's where the commencement office has been for over a century. 

The long history of Harvard commencements is not without disruption as war or pandemics have either canceled our festival rights or made them a bit smaller or virtual, for safety's sake. In 1644, there were no students who met the criteria, strict as ever, to graduate. And so there was no commencement held. In 1774, Harvard's corporation voted in a quote, there shall be no public commencement this year, end quote, due to the British occupation of Boston, and the relocation of our students to Western Massachusetts. 

Commencement ceremonies as we think of them didn't resume until 1781. Now fast forward quite a few years and they are packed years but I'm short on time. In 1914, we had no honorands. A small program was held in Sanders Theater for less than 600 students as World War one had begun in July of that year. In 1943, Harvard honored Winston Churchill in a very special convocation. 

We use Tercentenary theater to host this for students and American soldiers at the time, and it was remarkably special. Following this and not too long after, we used that very same area between Weidman Library and Memorial Church for commencement itself. Before this, it was just held in Seaver Quad, and we set a new standard for how commencement should occur. 

In 1986, the banners you will see in the yard when your kiddo graduates or loved one graduates for the houses and the schools were first flown right in the yard. It's a tradition that we've maintained all these years since. And in 2020, we hosted our first virtual graduation. Now conferring degrees of course, but not canceling the in-person experience. We hosted that in-person when we could gather again in 2022. And while there is so much, an enormous amount more that I could share, I think that essentially takes us to today. So thank you, everyone. 

[INTERPOSING VOICES] 

OK. Should I stay on? 

Yeah. Stay right here, Stephan. You did an incredible job in under five minutes. We love hearing so much about the history of our incredible institution. And in particular, commencement day. It just has so much special meaning and I can't wait for people to see it in action. We do have a question in the chat, which I am going to tackle to a bit and Stephan, I'll let you speak to it as well. 

So, one of our family members is asking, will there be affinity celebrations this year? And the answer is, yes. We are already hard at work planning, slotting out times, looking for rooms, working for speakers and hosts for our affinity celebrations. For those of you who don't know, our affinity celebrations are student-initiated celebrations that help celebrate specific identities, whether it is disabled students, LGBTQ, LatinX. 

We have a number of new celebrations that are happening this year, including veteran students and our Jewish students. And so we're really excited to see that these moments continue to grow and expand in our community, and really makes the week leading up to commencement feel even more rich and exciting. And Stephan, do you have anything to add there? 

You just nailed it perfectly. I was so excited we have some new ones this year, as Jason said. I'm really excited about the Veterans Affinity group. That's a brand new one, and such a beautiful program. So it's-- they will be leading up to commencement. 

And the Dean of Students offices at the respective schools, including of course, the college, will be having those details in the days to come. But it's just gorgeous, and something we're so proud of, especially because the students themselves play an enormous role in the production and the planning of them. So it's wonderful. 

There was a follow up in the chatters, will there be an AAPI celebration? And of course, there will be. So there is a really, really incredible list and your students can continue to monitor the Harvard Equity Diversity Inclusion and Belonging website for more information once those get scheduled and announced. 

And who knows, maybe I will be hosting an emceeing another one for the second year in a row. We'll see. But that looks like it in the chat. Stephan. So we'll have you back in a little bit again for sure, but thanks so much. 

My pleasure. 

Awesome. Thank you so much, Stephan. So next, we are going to have Erica join us. Hey, Erica. Thank you. 

Hi. 

So before we talk about all the different commencement events and things that are going on, can you tell us from the registrar's point of view, how do students earn their degrees? How do we get there? 

Sure. It's a long and winding road. But it is my privilege to support your students and your loved ones from the time they register for classes as a first year student, through the graduation period. So toward that end, my office assists with lots of different aspects of this to support your student as they move along the path towards commencement in their final semester. 

First, we have to make sure that all their grades are in. So this is a daunting task for us. From the time the student enters their final semester, we're closely monitoring to make sure that they have all their grades submitted, and that they don't have any outstanding grades from prior semesters because a student may not graduate with a missing grade. 

So it's my job to make sure that we have every single grade for all students before they graduate from the college. The timing of grading and the May commencement is very, very tight. So we need to be communicating with instructors constantly to make sure that they are diligent in submitting their grades in time, especially for graduating seniors. 

The next part of this is that my team also is communicating with students to confirm diploma information. We ask them to apply to graduate through my dot Harvard, which is the student portal. When they apply they're confirming things like their concentration, their house, and other required information. So we move from the student aspect of applying, then we also have to work with the academic departments. 

So we need to work with the academic departments to clear students for graduation, based on a student's fulfillment of their concentration requirements. So once we have all the grades and all of the recommendations from the departments, then my office calculates what's called Latin Honors. This happens the week before commencement. So it's right up until that deadline. 

Then we have to place a rush order for diplomas. So we're often receiving diplomas two days before commencement. This is a huge process in my office. We are checking and organizing every single diploma, and we're also scheduling pickup times with the various houses to make sure that they have the diplomas that they need for their house ceremonies. 

So on the Monday before commencement, there are also several university bodies that vote to recommend the conferral of degrees. So it starts with my office. We prepare all of the printed materials that are needed to go to these various offices to vote on the degrees. First the Administrative Board of Harvard College recommends the degrees to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Faculty Body. 

Then that faculty body votes to recommend the degrees to the Harvard Governing Boards, which is the actual entity that confers the degrees, blesses the degrees so to speak. Finally, the governing boards vote on these degrees and approve them. And after this vote, the degrees can actually be conferred in the system, which happens on the morning of commencement. Your student will receive their actual diploma on commencement day if they attend their house ceremony. 

They'll also receive an electronic diploma a few days to a week after commencement as well. So just to sum up, commencement is the culmination of all the hard work your student does over the course of their time at Harvard, and it's extremely gratifying for my office and myself to help your student along the way and to see this journey come to fruition on commencement day. It really is my favorite day of the year. So thank you, and I'm happy to take questions. 

Thanks so much, Erika. As questions begin to roll in throughout the remainder of the webinar, we'll be sure to pull you back. So a quick question that's come up now a couple of times in the chat that maybe you can help answer is, what do we do if a student is graduating off cycle? So what if they are walking in May, but they actually need to come back to finish up a class in the fall semester. How does-- what does that look like? 

So we have several off cycle commencement periods. We have one in November, and one in March. So your student will come back, participate in the ceremony. Once they finish their degree requirements, whenever that happens, we will be monitoring that to pull them in for one of those off cycle degree periods. 

So if they complete them in the fall semester, then it would be-- probably they could graduate the following March, or it depends if they complete them-- it just depends on when the completion happens. But we have three different times that we're graduating students throughout the year. So there is an accommodation to allow students to be off cycle like that. 

And I knew we'd start getting questions. So can you remind our families of the website that the students use to apply to graduate. 

Yes, it's actually within my dot harvard, which is our student portal. And they'll receive communication from my office, prompting them to do this process. 

And is there a deadline for the students to apply to graduate? 

Yes. And that will be communicated in the email, but I can also just quickly check our website and come back to you to see if we list the deadline on the registrar's website. We have a whole section about graduation on there. So parents, and guardians, and loved ones, are welcome to go to the FAS registrar's website and you can look at all the information right there. 

And we can certainly drop that in the chat for everyone in just a minute. So thank you so much, Erika. So helpful. We'll continue to keep bringing you back as these questions roll in. 

All right. Sounds good. 

Thanks so much, Erika. Next we are going to have John join us. Thank you, John. 

Hello. 

So, before we jump into it too much, can you tell us a little bit more about what the HAA is, and what that stands for. And then a little bit about how students can get involved with you and your office. Of course, yes. So the Harvard Alumni Association, which you may hear acronym to HAA, is the official association of all alumni of Harvard University. 

So not just from Harvard College, but all of Harvard's professional and graduate schools as well. So the business school, law school, education school, et cetera. That currently altogether is more than 400,000 living alumni, and growing more and more every year. And so the HAA office, which is about 50 staff members, supports the work of the alumni community, bringing them together, fostering their engagement, and connecting them back to the University. 

Within the office, my team is the College Alumni Programs Office. We work specifically with just the Harvard College population. So whereas our colleagues work with alums from all the schools, we focus our efforts just on the College Alumni experience. I will note that the HAA is a little bit different from other colleges and universities in that the HAA specifically is not itself a fundraising organization. 

We focus our efforts just on engagement and community building. But we do work very closely with our fundraising partners, including the Harvard College Fund, which supports the mission of Harvard College, and we work with them in our work. And we are part of an overall organization called Alumni Affairs and Development that supports all things related to alumni engagement, whether that's activities, or fundraising, or communications. 

And so from my role within the HAA College of Alumni Programs team, I focus my work on the youngest cohort of the college alumni community. And my portfolio is working with current students through alums up to 10 years out from graduation. So that includes working with our current undergraduate students, educating them about the HAA, helping them to connect to alumni through events and resources, working very closely with the senior class, which we'll talk more about next. 

Also working with recent graduates, and the fifth, and 10th reunion. And we really think about the senior year experience as not just your student's time ending at Harvard College, it is, but it's also part of their continuous journey throughout their Harvard experience in life. And so really think about that as that transition of what it's like to go into alumni life while wrapping up your time as a student. So it doesn't feel like it's an end, but just the next step on your journey through a member of the Harvard community. 

That's a great segue, John, to a question that's in the chat that I think gets asked a whole lot is, as students are transitioning from students with very overwhelming email inboxes, to alumni with potentially overwhelming email inboxes, do students receive an alumni email? What does-- what happens there? 

That's a great question. So as it is now, generally, students can keep their app college dot harvard.edu email address for about a year after graduation. It used to be a lot shorter than that. I think it was about three months when I graduated a decade ago. So now they currently have about a year to transition out of that, and to move their emails over. There is not currently an alumni email inbox but alums can register for an email alias. 

So they can send emails or receive emails from a certain address that ends with alumni.harvard.edu. So if they want to list that on their LinkedIn profile, on a resume, on a business card, people can reach them there and that will then forward to their Gmail, their Yahoo, whatever they may be using. So it's not a dedicated inbox but it is a way to communicate to the people and show your Harvard affiliation. 

That's awesome, John. Thank you. So our next question for you. I know you touched on it a little bit but a phrase that I know a little bit about is the class committee. But for those that don't know, could you tell us a little bit more about what the class committee is, and how students get involved in that? 

Yes. So while there is Student Wide Government at Harvard College, and that's the Harvard Undergraduate Association, there's not class-specific governance until the senior year. And so starting in senior fall, we will form a class-specific governance, which is called a class committee. So for this year's group of seniors that's formally called the 2024 Class Committee. 

And that is a group of about 33 members of the class that come together through a mix of class wide online elections, appointments from some staff, and then the rest are appointed by those initial members of the classes that are voted or appointed. So it comes together through all sorts of ways and my office and my role work very closely with them throughout their senior year on everything related to their senior year experience. 

Their communications, their events, helping them, guide them through that final year of college. And we work with the class committee very closely during the fall and spring semester on all their efforts, from creating a merchandise store to planning social events, to planning reflective events, to planning a series of events that prepare them for life after college. We call those real world events. 

And what's great about this committee is that it is not a senior year only committee, they are the permanent governance of their class going forward. Now we tell them, if your life circumstances change in the future, you need to step down. We'll work to find a replacement for your role. But the expectation and hope is that they can be in this role for many years to come. And so this is what will be the permanent ongoing governance of a class going into alumni life. 

Now I will note, just because if you don't end up being one of those 33 members of the class appointed or elected to the committee, that doesn't mean that you're shut out from all volunteer experiences with your class going forward. That's just one opportunity. There are additional opportunities throughout the senior year specifically that are unlimited and open to all seniors. There are also similar roles in alumni life where they can join. And again, there's no limit. 

And then every five years there are Harvard reunions. And new reunion committees will form every five years. And again, those are open and unlimited. So, we just want to make sure people know that, even if you aren't one of those 33 that can join the class committee, there are still so many ways to get involved and work alongside the class committee, whether it's in senior year, next year, five years from now, or 50 years from now. 

[INTERPOSING VOICES] 

--something not exactly related to the class council work, but there is a question in the chat that I would love a little insight in. So if a student is studying abroad and they really want to tap into that incredible alumni network somewhere, how might a student connect with alum wherever they go? 

That's a great question. So I can think of two examples. So one is that all students have access to the HAA alumni directory. And from there they can do a search of all alumni around the world from all of Harvard's schools. And so that can be a great way to filter by a certain location, you could do a search by a certain career field, and you can figure out who you may want to reach out to, make connections with in a certain location. 

Also our partners in HAA that work with our University wide alumni population, work with two different groups of alumni communities. One is called Harvard Clubs. These are regional-based communities only. Some of them are unique, like New York and Boston, that they actually have physical clubhouses. But the rest don't have a physical clubhouse, they just are a group, a community of alums in a certain area. 

So they could connect with the Harvard club in a location that they're going to be in or be visiting. And then another group is called Shared Interest Groups. These are affinity-based groups that are most equivalent to the student organizations that your students may be a part of now. So, those are additional opportunities for students to engage with alumni, either now or when they are alums, beyond just their class going forward. 

And one last quick question in the chat. Is there a Facebook page, or any sort of social media, designed for Harvard Alumni? 

There is, yes. So, we actually have a whole team dedicated to that in the HAA that manages our Instagram account, our Facebook page, and other channels as all of that continues to evolve. So there are opportunities, and then usually each class committee will also create their own channels for their classmates for them to follow and get news as well. 

Awesome. Thank you. We have one more question for you. So there's actually a lot of different events that happen during what we call commencement. Can you tell us a little bit about some of those events that you all support during that time. 

Sure. So after a senior's finished their spring semester exams, they are not done yet. They are actually going to be on campus for another two full weeks, which I know is pretty unique compared to a lot of other schools. And we really break that schedule down to two different weeks. So the first of those two weeks is what we call senior week. That is a week for the seniors. 

We work very closely with the class committee to plan the events that week. But it's a full week of social events, reflective events, things like Olympics, movie night, dances, house-based activities. It's really a chance for just the seniors to have that. That breather of a week after they finally finished all their courses and exams, just to hang out with each other and reflect on their final semester at Harvard. 

The next week is commencement week and that is when families and guests now arrive for programming. Generally, programming for families, and guests, and students takes place over three days that week. From the Tuesday through the Thursday. That Thursday is commencement, and I know Stephan will talk more about that as well. And the day before that is-- the Wednesday is class day. 

And that is a smaller ceremony that's specifically just for the Harvard College seniors and their families. I say smaller because it's a group of about 10,000 versus probably 30,000 or more the next day. But it is a slightly more intimate session that honors the experience of the Harvard College seniors as they are graduating. But I will note that formal graduation, degrees, that happens on commencement day. That is the big finale of the full experience. 

That's right. And John, we've got a question in the chat. It might be helpful to have both you and Stephan tackle this one together. So there's some questions about the March ceremony, and if it's a public ceremony that our families can attend, or is there something perhaps that happens in December that you and your team help put together? 

Yes. Great question. So, yes. So Erika was referring to the fact that, in addition to being able to complete your degree requirements for a May graduation, there are also two other points throughout the year. That would be in November and in March. I will note that there is just the one commencement in May. 

So there is not another commencement throughout another time of the year, and students who are finishing their coursework for either a November or March graduation should plan on participating in one May commencement of their choosing. 

That being said, knowing that some of those students are finishing their coursework at a different point of the year, our office actually does work very closely with the college and the class committee to plan an event that we hold in December, that we call The Mid-year Graduates Recognition Celebration. 

So this is not a replacement for a commencement, it is not a formal graduation, but it is a brief ceremony just to honor their experience right at the moment that they're finishing classes or maybe they just recently did. So those students who are finishing their courses off cycle will be invited to that. 

Families are invited as well. But again, underscoring that is not their graduation. They don't get a diploma then. We still hope that they can come to a commencement of their choice, either before or after that year. 

Just to follow John who answered that perfectly. Every graduate is eligible for one commencement for each degree. And we encourage them to celebrate and participate in the commencement that best suits them. Sometimes they want to walk with their social class, they want to walk and participate in the commencement activities. 

Even if they're going to complete their degree requirements by November and have that celebration, that great moment in December, that would be their graduation, and they could experience the full extent of it minus the diploma, which they would get following. 

But it really is beautiful. We have one commencement for the entire University. Be it business college, medical, or Ed School, it doesn't matter. It's just one. And so your student would pick which one is best suited for them and their experience. 

Awesome. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it, John. So next-- and Stephan. 

[CHUCKLES] 

Next, we are going to have Carvina join us. 

Hello. 

Hello. Thank you so much for being here. 

I'm really glad to be here. It's so nice. I feel like maybe I'm an Oscar nominee and I'm surrounded by such a great group of people. We all work together. We all try to support each other to help your student go from, when you drop them off that first year or when you drop them off as a transfer, to that day in May, commencement day. 

I work in the Resident Dean's Office. I'm an undergraduate coordinator. So for me, I help along with the academic journey of your students, working with their nonconcentration advisors when they first get to the college and have not declared a concentration. Harvard has a system already in place for students to have someone to speak with, to get advice, to bounce ideas off of. 

And a lot of times, to really just point people in the right direction. Harvard has so many resources that it can get overwhelming, which is why I depend on everyone who is on this call tonight. Once they move into the house, they will have their resident tutors who live with them in the house. And I'll wait and let Beth speak more to that. 

But they'll also have a Resident Dean who is the Academic Dean of each house or community. And working in that office, we go through-- we know the concentrations, we work with the registrar about where each student is, we can run records to see if students are behind, or ahead. And when they-- will work with students about getting credit along with the International Office for study away. 

And also if a student just needs a break from being at school, that's a leave of absence process and you would work with your resident Dean and the administrative board to help you along with that. There's your senior year, or maybe second semester junior year, now that we have prior term registration, which I think will be so helpful. 

I don't know if Erika thinks it'll be so helpful. But I think it'll be a wonderful way to help your students have some ownership. And we're working here as a team. But I will go through a senior record check, where I will go through every seniors record, pull it up from the registrar's computer system, my.harvard, and see what they're missing, what they're not missing. If they've fulfilled all of their general education requirements, their distribution requirements, foreign language, and quantitative reasoning. 

And so in the course of doing that, we're able to reach out to students to say, yep, you're good. Or oh, I see that you need this course and I can also see from your record that you are actually enrolled in a course to fulfill them this term. So that's an exciting time. Degree application season is on now. The deadline is April 1st. 

But what I usually do is once on Monday, and probably once on Friday, is I'm able to run a list from the Registrar's Office, see who has not filed their degree application, and then I just send a little reminder with the deadline and the link so that it makes it easy for people to get on. 

Class day for us as undergraduate coordinators and academic coordinators is a wonderful day because, while you all are celebrating in the yard and listening to the great class day speaker, we are actually going through the box of diplomas that include your students, and opening each one and saying out loud the entire name, and checking. 

Make sure everything is OK, and that's such a fun day, and it's so exciting. And I'm lucky enough to also be there early on Thursday morning as they walk up from their community or their house, and all the music, the bagpipers. At Dudley we do an African drummer, and it's just such a great celebration of hard work and perseverance. And just a day of joy and anticipation of what's to come. So thank you. And if you have any questions, I'm happy to take those. 

Carvina, as always, you crush it. Just the care that you and really all of our housing staff show is just delightful. And yes, you are a red carpet celebrity in my book always. So, yeah. We'll keep those questions coming in. But for now, I want to hop over to our colleague and panelist, Beth. So Beth, one of your questions that we were going to ask you has been thoroughly answered. 

But I want to switch gears just a little bit as someone who is so outstanding in supporting your house in the house celebrations. So can you tell us a little bit about what is the difference between the main commencement celebration in the yard, versus what happens at the house? 

Sure, I can. And I hope I will do Stephan justice in my descriptions. I think that the yard ceremonies in the morning, which everybody has seen pictures of-- I'm sure your students and you've seen pictures of these, is the big gathering where the degrees are conferred. That means the president and other August leaders make-- essentially graduate your students group by group along with all the other schools at Harvard. 

What happens in the houses afterwards, and also in communities, and for graduate students, it would happen in their departments. You come-- the undergraduate students come back to their undergraduate houses and we put on a diploma ceremony, which is the place where they actually receive their physical diploma, and from the Faculty Deans, and the Resident Dean, and the rest of the house community. 

So every house has a diploma ceremony. They're mostly all at the same time in the afternoon. It's-- your houses will all have information about their specific, some of them do them a little bit differently. But it's basically where your child will get their actual degree, and it's the most fun. It really is great. 

Now I did-- there were a few other topics I thought I would chat about because a, there've been a lot of questions, and b, I do have a little list of things that sounds like people might be interested in, particularly off cycle students. So Katie, I saw you're prompted here. Many of you have questions about, what do I do if my student is off cycle? What does that mean? 

It just means that they haven't fulfilled their degree requirements, or they've already fulfilled the degree requirements and they're not enrolled right now, but they want to come back and walk with the people that they were in school with in particular. So generally speaking, that is OK. We usually check with the Resident Dean, make sure that everything is copacetic. 

But the important thing for parents and students to realize, I think, about the ceremony, the diploma ceremonies and walking, is that you're supposed to do it once. Harvard essentially gives you a great senior week, a terrific commencement experience, and a chance to have all of the bells and whistles, and the hoopla. And you get your degree or you get an envelope that doesn't have a degree, but it looks like everybody else's. And you can do that once. 

What we do not do is split years. So if a student finished their degree and this was, of course, a big consideration during COVID, but they finished their degree in 2022 but they really wanted to walk in 2023 when all of their friends were walking because they had all taken leaves of absence for the year. They could choose not to walk in 2022. They would move out, carry on with their lives, come back in 2023 for the full monty. 

The full senior week, commencement week, everybody coming and all the usual things. So the most important takeaway would be that you really can only do those things once. So you should decide if your student is off cycle, they should consult probably with the house administrator, and the Resident Dean in the house, and/or with you, the parents, and decide what would make the most sense. Particularly, if they're mid-year graduate, that's a very common thing and we're used to dealing with it. 

So there's always a way to have a great big ceremony and a lot of fun. And the specifics of that you can work out with your house. So hope that helps answer questions about off cycle. Do you want to talk about-- briefly can talk about accessibility. So every house has a different architectural layout and there are different accessibility questions that occur in different houses. 

So the most important thing is, if your student or if somebody related to your student has a very specific or really concerning accessible need that you feel might affect how they participate in the diploma ceremony, you should just feel free to contact the house administrator in that house and talk about it and/or have the student do it well in advance. 

I'm talking to people right now about this May. So don't be shy. Find out who the house administrator is, contact them, or contact Stephan Magro's commencement office, and they can put you in touch with correct resources for all disability questions. What other sorts of things do you think would be useful to talk about, Katie? 

Well, I handed over to Jason. Are there any questions in the chat that you have? 

So many questions in the chat. 

Oh, no. 

So many. It's great. I did drop a quick link in the chat for everyone that answers a lot of the questions about accessibility for the large ceremony. So my number one piece of advice for accessibility is to plan in advance. There's a whole lot of people and the more planning that you can put into that, the easier your day is going to be. And one of my favorite things to say is there are no dumb questions, right? Just things you don't know yet. 

And so please ask those great, great naive questions so that we can make sure that your day is as special as you hope and want it to be. So, a couple of questions, Beth, that maybe you and Stephan can help answer is, when do we hear about commencement tickets? Do they have to pick them up? How does that work? 

Yes, well. Stephan, you want to take this? 

Well, I was going to say this might be a great question for John as well because of the unique role that the HAA plays in helping to distribute the terrific array of questions. And then I can be on as well if there are further accessibility points I might add or commencement speaker type of things. But John, will you talk a little bit about the tickets? 

Yeah, happy to address that. So for all of the commencement week events that are ticketed, and this includes the Tuesday family reception for the senior class and their families, the class day picnic, the class day exercises, the Thursday morning commencement exercises, and then the Thursday at noon house diploma ceremony and luncheon. So those five events. 

There are other events throughout that week but those are the five that we ticket through our office. So our team at HAA is responsible for producing and gathering all those tickets, and making sure that your students get them when it's time for them to participate in those events and graduate. And so what we do, we call the senior desk. 

So essentially, all of the seniors that are eligible to graduate and participate come to the HAA office starting in May, and they will then come pick up their tickets. Every student gets a standard packet of tickets by default. So there's never a case where someone will get nothing. Beyond the standard packet of tickets that they get, can then get more of most tickets. 

Some of them are free and there's no limit. Some of them cost money for extras, and there's no limit. The only thing that they cannot get any more tickets for is the commencement exercises on Thursday morning. And maybe Stephan, before I go further maybe you want to speak to that briefly? 

I do. We have over 8920 students graduating from across our schools. That includes, of course, our youngest of our degree candidates, the college. But it also includes the other professional and graduate schools, the PhD candidates and the doctors. And because of that and the restrictions that we have, Harvard yard is only 22 acres. That's 3/4 of a mile around in the gates. 

We simply, for safety's sake and the amount of seats that can fit there, we cannot sit more. You are going to receive the most amount of tickets than any other school. And so if you have a friend who might have a business school graduate, or have a friend or a loved one who has a Divinity school graduate, they only get two tickets but you get four. And those four are really important. Those are for you. 

What is so important to point out and I think Erika, Beth, and Carvina may have already said this but I'm going to underscore this. Your child, or loved one, or person that's graduating does not walk across a stage at the University wide commencement ceremony. They do not. They do that at their house or their community. And at their house or community, they can receive-- you can receive a few extra tickets. 

And more than that, for loved ones that might be mobility bound or have restrictions, they might want to go to the house early, get a great seat, enjoy the live stream broadcast. We also broadcast it on television. Local television in Cambridge and Boston, and we broadcast it via the web. And they can watch it there, enjoy it, and have first like VIP seats at their house. 

And then that-- when they go to the house after the morning, that's where the student, the senior, walks across the stage. And it's one of the most beautiful moments because it's not a stranger giving them the diploma, it's their Faculty Dean that they have lived with, learned with, laughed with, for three years, likely. And it's just-- it chokes me up every time and it's gorgeous. And there's extra seats for that. But we really don't have extra seats. 

So some of you are asking you want many more and I wish I could, I wish. I will say one more thing. For commencement on Thursday the 23rd, this year of May, we have plenty of other seating at the Science Center Plaza tent, at the Smith Campus Center, there is remote seating and many places. You could also watch it on your phone and you can also watch it at the house. 

Yeah, well said. 

Yeah. The other question, and I'm sure everyone has opinions on this. And as a volunteer at commencement I certainly see it. What time should people start arriving, and what should they wear? 

I'm happy to tackle this one for commencement. So much of the wonderful activities that occur before baccalaureate, if you'd like to go and see it, you can. That's on Tuesday. The family wonderful, beautiful reception that happens in the Plaza tent later on. And even class day, I would say and John can correct me, business casual. Really comfortable, respecting the dignity of what your loved ones are accomplishing. 

But it's a little bit more open, it's a little bit more free. For commencement day, I leave it to you. But I will say that it is, among all the events that we have, among the most formal. And so people tend to dress respecting their loved ones graduating. And you'll see that. Sure people are comfortable and you want to be comfortable. Please do not wear heels. Please do not. 

It is Harvard yard, which is principally grass and I do not encourage heels. I encourage comfortable footwear. The time. Harvard yard's gates will be securely sealed until 6:45 AM on Thursday of commencement, which is this case, the 23rd of May. And I would encourage anybody who wants to get a nice seat to be there by 6:45. If you want that, there will be seats available, there will be space and overflow. 

But if you want to get a great seat, the one thing I want to point out, and this is so hard to communicate unless you've gone through it and lived it. On class day, you will be seated pretty much with the graduates themselves. So close you can hug your senior, you can be there with them present right in tercentenary theater, which is the space between Memorial Church and Widener. 

You will not, and I will repeat this one more time, you will not have that opportunity on commencement day because you will be seated outside of where the 9,000 graduates will be. The 9,000 graduates will be right in front of the church and the library, and you will be all around. 

So just keep that in mind that you may have the best seat in the house on class day, and then you show up at commencement and you go, what are all these seats for? Well, those seats are for your kids. Those seats are for your loved ones graduating. And I cannot express the disappointment. And it hurts, it hurts to watch these parents who supported and these guardians who supported their loved ones. 

You won't have the same seat but it's for them. They need to be in front. They need to enjoy this day. It's not for us. It's for them. And we're behind. We're behind and on the sides, or in the Science Center Plaza. I hope that helps. 

That's perfect, Stephan. Thank you. And just keeping an eye on our time while I have all the panelists here, I was wondering if you all had any final tips, tricks, pieces of advice, as we are already so close to the end. Commencement is right around the corner. So I don't know if anyone-- if you just want to come off and provide any last little piece of advice as we wrap up here. 

Yeah, I can share something and this is building off of our earlier discussion around tickets. Your student is responsible for getting the tickets for, not only themselves, but their whole party. They actually first have to complete a senior survey that all seniors are required to take before they graduate, and then they can come get their ticket. So of course, you can be in communication with them so that they know how many tickets they need to get, but it is up to them to actually show up to our office and get the tickets. 

We're only able to help students there , not family members. There are many other things throughout senior year that the seniors themselves are responsible for doing, such as getting their regalia that they'll wear throughout many of these events that week. So we send a lot of information to the seniors to remind them about this. The class committee also sends lots of reminders to their peers. 

But the key thing going into the senior year, especially into the final months, is be in close communication with your students, make sure that they're doing what they need to do so that when you arrive, you can all enjoy your time together on campus and you're not having to worry about figuring out what your student may, or may not have already done. 

Yeah, I'd like to echo that. I'm sure Carvina and I have had the same experience. The best thing you could do really is to be in touch with your senior around January of their senior spring if it's a traditional timing. And be like, have you gotten any emails you want to share with me? Or come March, like really, have you gotten anything from the house? Could we maybe talk to somebody in the house? 

Because I've already sent out to my seniors my whole big screed about commencement. So sometimes students will simply just forward that to their families, which is fine with me. But you should be in touch with them about this time of year to really nail down some of these details so you don't end up arriving and then they don't have their tickets, and they haven't gone to senior desk. 

Yes. Thank you, Beth. I do the same thing but I also ask my seniors, and I have a smaller group, if they would like me to send that same notice email directly to their parents, and I'm willing to do that. Thank you. 

have one tip. Don't lose your diploma. Your students get one diploma and it's very easy on that day when they're excited, and they're talking with their friends and their family, to misplace the-- please keep track of the diploma. It's one of-- it's wonderful that we give them out on the day of commencement, but it's also a risk and a hazard. And just make sure you're holding on to it, protecting it. There have been years where we've had inclement weather. So you just want to be careful with that. So just keep that in mind to remind your student please. 

I'll finish this off with less of a tip and trick and more of a comment. Enjoy this moment. You as family, as loved ones, worked really hard to support your student. And this is also a day to celebrate the whole community that made commencement possible. As Stephan speaks so eloquently of, it is a special magical day. And so be sure to congratulate yourselves and give yourselves a little bit of grace during that day. 

There's a lot of high expectations. Not everything is going to go perfectly to plan. And if you haven't made dinner reservations yet, and hotel reservations, get on it. Get those hotel reservations. Get those dinner reservations. We've got some fine dining in Cambridge and Boston, and you all deserve quite the lovely dinner to cap off your commencement journey. But please, please, enjoy the moment. 

Definitely. Thank you so much, Jason. And thank you so much to our panelists. This is all of their information. So I know there were a couple of questions still left in the chat. I'm sorry we couldn't get to all of them. But if you do have any questions, here's all of our panelists information. Please reach out to them. I know they're more than happy to answer those questions, get you connected and make sure that you are very prepared for the day. 

And then finally, we have only one more webinar this semester. It just flew by. So please join us on April 10th at 6:00 PM, and we're going to have an academic year wrap up with some of our college leadership. They're very excited to talk to you all. So we are looking forward to that. And finally, this is Jason and I. 

So if you do have any questions, please let us know. You can always email us at the parents@fas.harvard.edu email. I'm happy to chat with you. And thank you all so, so much again. We so appreciate your time tonight. Panelists, thank you all again for your time, and we'll hopefully see you all in a couple of weeks. 

See you soon, everyone. Have a great night. 

Thanks.