Commencement: Important Updates 

• Academic Regalia has arrived and is available from the Bookstore. Be sure you purchase the correct regalia. For more information, please go to http://www.mills.edu/administration/administrative_offices/college_events/announcements_regalia.php

• A limited supply of flowers is available for purchase on Commencement morning. Payment may be made in either cash or checks. Pre-ordered Commencement flowers will also be available for pick up. Come to the flower booth on Suzanne Adams Plaza beginning at 8:00 am. For pre-orders, Please remember to bring your receipt or a picture ID to pick up the flowers. For more information, please go to http://www.mills.edu/administration/administrative_offices/college_events/photographing.php#flowers

• For those who cannot attend Commencement in person, we offer a live streaming webcast of the full ceremony beginning at 9:45 am. Visit www.mills.edu/webcast for additional information and webcast viewing tips. Video playback of the full ceremony and video clips of the speeches will be viewable online shortly after the Commencement ceremony is completed.

• You may purchase a formal photo of yourself in your academic regalia. Just bring your regalia to the Rehearsal Lunch in the Student Union on Friday, May 11, between 12:00 pm and 1:30 pm and GradImages will take your photo on a first-come basis.

• Please note that seating tickets are not required for the Commencement ceremony and there is no limit on the number of guests graduating students may invite. Families may sit in any open seating area. Ushers, wearing sashes, will be on hand to direct and assist our guests. For more details, read the You and Your Guests/Seating Tickets section of this website.

• Three gates will be open on Commencement morning - the main gate on MacArthur Blvd. and the Wetmore and Corporation Yard gates on Seminary Ave.

• The Bookstore, Tea Shop and Founders Commons will be open on Commencement day. Bookstore hours are 8:00 am - 3:00 pm, Tea Shop 7:00 am - 2:00 pm, and Founders 10:30 am - 1:00 pm for brunch and 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm for dinner.

• Remember, a crowd of nearly 3,500 is anticipated for this event. Please allow plenty of time for parking. Extra officers will be on hand to direct traffic and many areas that are not traditionally parking areas will be temporarily converted. Shuttles and golf carts will go back and forth between these areas and Holmgren Meadow for guest convenience.

• Flutter fetti wands – the final dramatic (and fun!) end to the ceremony – will be handed out to all students just after crossing the stage during the awarding of the degrees. Hold on to it and then flick it in the air at the end of the ceremony, just after singing the College hymn, Fires of Wisdom.  This product is biodegradable and is environmentally friendly, so you can enjoy watching the “confetti” in the class color of purple and Mills colors of gold and white dance through the air!

• In the unlikely event of emergency, listen to the announcer for instructions and note your seating location. Security staff will be wearing yellow vests and will direct you using ramps and walkways, as needed. Please follow the directives of security staff, police, and medical personnel. In addition, paramedics will be stationed with an ambulance near the front of the Natural Sciences Building, which is behind the seating area.