Graduation & Commencement

First, Apply to Graduate for the 2023-24 academic year. Graduates who apply to graduate by April 15, 2024 will have their name printed in the commencement program.

Next, pick up your Check-in Card during Monday-Friday of commencement week. You are required to have a Check-in Card to cross the stage to receive your Evergreen diploma cover. You will be able to check in and pick up your Check-in Card at the following times:

• June 10 - 13, 10 am - 3 pm in the Campus Activities Building
• June 14, 9 am - 1:30 pm on Red Square

Please spell your name phonetically on your Check-in Card to assist the name reader. You must have applied to graduate for the 2023-24 academic year to receive a Check-in Card.

Graduate Program students: You can also pick up your Check-in Card through your program. Please contact your program’s Assistant Director for more information.

Academic Statement

All undergraduate students are required to submit an Academic Statement to graduate. Your Final Academic Statement must be submitted by the last day of your final quarter. If you were admitted before Fall 2013 or you are a graduate student, you are encouraged, but not required, to submit your Academic Statement.

Graduate Procession Map (PDF)

Plan to line-up on Red Square for the commencement processional at 12:15 - 12:30 pm. Don't forget to bring your check-in card with you. The processional line will form between Purce Hall and Lab I. Use the Graduate Procession Map to learn where to line-up and where you will walk as you move toward the seating area. Staff will assist you with lining up.

When the ceremony begins at 1 pm, faculty will lead the procession through the guest seating. Staff will direct the graduates to the designated seating area. Once all graduates are seated, the speakers will begin. After the speakers have concluded, graduates will be invited to cross the stage and receive their diploma covers. Graduate students cross the stage first, followed by undergraduate students.

Each row of students will be directed to rise and form a line up to the stage. Remain seated until staff direct you to line up to cross the stage. At the stage entrance, you will be directed into one of two lines. At the top of the ramp, present your card to the name reader. You'll then walk across the stage to receive your diploma cover where you will have your first photograph taken. After you receive your diploma cover, you'll get a second photo taken. Then return to your seat and cheer for your friends!

When you cross the stage at commencement, you will receive your Evergreen diploma cover. Diplomas will be mailed to you once all your evaluations are turned in by faculty and your degree is certified, assuming all holds and charges have been reconciled. Deans will contact faculty with overdue evaluations to make sure they are turned in.

Also, your diploma and academic record will correctly reflect your bachelor of arts, bachelor of science or bachelor of arts and sciences, regardless of how it may be listed in the commencement program.

Review the Student & Guest Accessibility section for additional services or to request accommodations.

Graduate Accessible Seating

Accessible seating is set aside outdoors. This accessible seating is dispersed throughout the graduate seating area. If you need assistance locating or accessing this seating, please see an usher.

Graduate Procession

Graduates are expected to assemble from roughly 12:15 - 1 pm between Purce Hall and Lab 1. If you are a graduate and cannot stand for the time period of 12:15 - 1 pm, there is seating reserved in the lower left corner of general seating for you. You can remain seated there until it is time for your program to process in, then join the procession.

The graduate procession route travels on concrete and grass. The grass portion has been made temporarily accessible with an accessible surface mat.

Graduate Stage Access

Graduates will enter and exit the commencement stage via ADA regulation compliant ramps, and are accessible to wheelchair users and others with accessibility needs. If you cannot stand while you are waiting to walk across the stage, there are chairs set up by the ramp entrance for you. 

Greener Bookstore

Come to the Greener Bookstore for graduation regalia, announcements, snacks, Greener gear, gifts, and more! Orders can be placed online for pick up in the store at the Olympia campus, pick up at the Tacoma campus, or shipped directly to you. You can also just stop by on commencement day.

A cap and gown are not required, but many graduates proudly don a traditional cap and gown as part of their regalia. Feel free to get festive and make it your own! Evergreen’s graduation is well-known for creative garb!

Graduating seniors can decorate their caps for free with the Alumni Programs Office to celebrate their accomplishments and learn more about joining the Evergreen alumni community. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. Can't stay long? Don't worry, to-go bags will be available!

Order Graduation Ceremony Photos
Preregister for Graduation Ceremony Photos*

A professional photographer will take photos of each graduate at two points on the stage, and after they cross the stage. Please avoid taking pictures near the stage exit ramp, as this blocks the views for people seated near that area. You can Order Graduation Photos online after the ceremony.

*Preregister for Graduation Ceremony Photos before June 14 to receive 20% off a photo purchase of $50 or more. In the GradImages site, type "Evergreen State College" in the School Name box to find Evergreen.

Graduating Class Gift

The Class of 2024 voted to direct donations to the Student Emergency Fund as their official Graduating Class Gift. The Student Emergency Fund provides year-round micro-grants to students facing urgent financial crises. Honor our amazing graduates, their achievements, and support future Greeners today. Every donation matters—by coming together, we make a big difference. Join the Class of 2024 today to make a meaningful gift and cheer on our incredible graduates!

Buy the 2024 Tote Bag

New this year, the 2024 Student Commencement Planning Committee worked to design a tote bag by and in honor of the graduating class of 2024. It is available for $8 in the Greener Bookstore, online or in-person. A portion of the proceeds from the tote bag will go to support the 2024 Class Gift, the Student Emergency Fund.

Special thanks to the artist, 2024 graduate Grace Selvig, and the Student Commencement Planning Committee for their work to make the tote bag a reality!

Evergreen License Plate

Scholarship funding is provided in part by custom Evergreen license plates. The newest design is available now on our Alumni page.

Parking

Olympia Campus Evergreen Graduation Parking Map (PDF)

Visitors may park in B or C lots. If B and C lots are filled, parking is available in F lot. Follow the marked paths to make your way to Red Square for the ceremony. ADA Accessible parking is available in parking lots B and C, which are closest to Red Square, and in lot F.

Shuttle Vans

At Commencement, two shuttle vans will operate between F Lot and Red Square. Shuttle van drop-off and pick-up will be located between the House of Welcome and Seminar I.

• 11 am - 1 pm, F Lot to Red Square
• 3 - 5 pm, Red Square to F Lot

Our shuttle options are not equipped to transport wheelchair users. We encourage those using wheelchairs or other mobility devices to use the Drop-off Near the Event option. Notify Parking Personnel if you need access to drop off a disabled person.

A professional traffic control company will ensure a smooth exit from all parking lots. Please follow the directions of the uniformed personnel. To help speed everyone’s departure, Evergreen Parkway will be closed briefly at the end of the ceremony to prioritize exiting traffic as follows:

B Lot will exit via the Parkway going southbound only. Traffic will not be allowed to enter the roundabout to go north on the Parkway.

C Lot will exit via what are normally the entrance lanes and proceed northbound on the Parkway. Signs will direct drivers to Highway 101 and Olympia City Center via Kaiser Road or Cooper Point Road.

When guests exiting overflow parking or F Lot reach the intersection of Driftwood Road and the Parkway, right turns will not be permitted. Flaggers will alternate traffic to proceed straight ahead onto Kaiser Road or turn left onto the Parkway. Signs will direct drivers to Highway 101 and Olympia City Center via Kaiser Road or Cooper Point Road.

If you live near campus or plan to come to campus on Saturday, note that Evergreen is hosting South Puget Sound Community College's commencement ceremony on Red Square on Saturday, June 15, starting at 10 am. Their ceremony will conclude between Noon and 1 pm - the same road closures and traffic control will be in effect.

Parking is free all day on Saturday, June 15.

Wheelchairs can be rented at a discounted rate of $25 plus tax for commencement weekend from Bellevue Healthcare in Lacey. Be sure to reference Evergreen's commencement to receive the June 13 - 17 special rate.

Bellevue Healthcare
4500 Pacific Ave SE Suite A
Lacey, WA 98503

Monday-Friday, 8 am - 5 pm
Phone: 360-438-2955
www.bellevuehealthcare.com

ADA Accessible parking is available in parking lots B and C, which are closest to Red Square, and in lot F. 

You can drop off a disabled or elderly family member on Red Square. 

Entering McCann Plaza, continue straight past the parking booth and the entrances to the parking lots. Enter the loop separated by a stand of trees and stop near the Native American Welcome Woman statue. 

For those using a wheelchair, there is a car ramp just before the bus stop. Ushers are available to show you to seating set aside for disabled guests.

Our shuttle options are not equipped to transport wheelchair users. We encourage those using wheelchairs or other mobility devices to use the Drop-off Near the Event option. Notify Parking Personnel if you need access to drop off a disabled person.

Shuttle Vans
F Lot 

Two shuttle vans will operate between F Lot and Red Square.  Shuttle van drop-off and pick-up will be located between the House of Welcome and Seminar I.

• 11 am - 1 pm, F Lot to Red Square
• 3 - 5 pm, Red Square to F Lot

Golf Cart Shuttles
B and C Lots

Golf cart shuttle pickup will be located in B and C lots at the ramps closest to the paths leading to Red Square. Golf cart shuttle drop-off will be at the Accessible Seating sections on Red Square. 

• 11 am - 1 pm, B & C Lots to Red Square
• 3 - 5 pm, Red Square to B & C Lots

Food and drinks will be available for purchase on Red Square and in the adjacent College Activities Building. Water bottle filling stations and restrooms are available in all buildings. Your program map and ushers can assist you in locating water bottle filling stations and restrooms.

Accessible seating is set aside outdoors. This accessible seating is dispersed throughout the guest and graduate seating areas. If you need assistance locating or accessing this seating, please see an usher. Those who wish to sit inside may watch the ceremony broadcast in the classrooms and lecture halls in Purce Hall. 

The graduation ceremony will be broadcast on two large screens on Red Square. Captions will be shown on the indoor and outdoor screens of the event, and are viewable at evergreen.edu/captions.

ASL Sign Language interpreters will provide captioning on stage for the event. Interpreters will be broadcast on the outdoor and indoor screens of the event.

Assistive listening devices are available upon request in the audiovisual tent in the middle of Red Square, which is labeled with an "Assistive Listening Devices" sign placed on it. Please see an usher if you need assistance locating this tent.

Originally a weapon used in medieval warfare by a king or great noble, the mace has become a ceremonial symbol. Use of the mace as an academic device dates back to 16th-century England, when Queen Elizabeth I presented a replica of her own royal mace to the corporation of the University of Oxford. She ordered that it be used in all ceremonies to represent the royal presence and the authority granted to the university to issue degrees under the royal insignia. Since that time, colleges and universities have adopted the custom of using a ceremonial mace during graduation exercises.

The Evergreen State College’s mace is a gift from the late Byron Youtz, former academic vice president and provost, who donated the materials, and faculty member emeritus Earle McNeil, who gave his time and talent to create it.

The crown of the mace represents the principles of knowledge and experience. To remind us that such integration is a carefully balanced blend of diverse aspects of human nature, there are four inlaid circles symbolizing major ways of experiencing the world—thinking, feeling, intuiting and sensing— and four main characteristics of the human mind—wisdom, innocence, introspection and illumination.

The original college medallion was designed for founding president Charles McCann’s inauguration, which he later donated to Library archives. The medallion worn by the current college president was designed in 1994 by Joyce Attwood. It is fabricated of silver, copper, brass, gold and acrylic, featuring a moon-stone from Nepal, paua shell from New Zealand and turquoise, and is suspended on a chain from Thailand. The medallion design shows an evergreen tree with Mt. Rainier and the sea in the background.

Omnia Extares, Omnia Extares Alma Mater, Evergreen Omnia Extares.

Founders of the college wanted a mascot that epitomized the difference between traditional schools and Evergreen’s innovative ideas. It had to be the opposite of typically snarling, fierce or aggressive mascots.

They chose the geoduck, the world’s largest burrowing clam, which lives on the shorelines of our beautiful Puget Sound and Evergreen's beach. The word geoduck derives from the Lushootseed gwideq, meaning “to dig deep.”

Go, Geoducks go,
Through the mud and the sand, let’s go.
Siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about,
let it all hang out.
Go, Geoducks go,
Stretch your neck when the tide is low,
Siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about,
let it all hang out.

Program students are wearing tribal, Indigenous or culturally significant regalia representative of their ancestors, lands and communities.

Tacoma graduates are wearing stoles made from Kente cloth, a type of woven silk and cotton fabric native to the Ashanti people (Ghana). Kente cloth, worn only in times of extreme importance, is a key symbol of African cultural heritage.

Each master’s degree program graduate wears a hood edged in a distinctive color. Pale blue marks a Master in Teaching; brilliant gold signifies a Master of Environmental Studies; and deep turquoise indicates a Master of Public Administration. Master of Public Administration Tribal Governance graduates are wearing regalia that are representative of their tribe.

Students and faculty wearing black, green and white stoles accented with a moon and sun represent Evening and Weekend Studies. They honor the nights and weekends graduates spent earning their degrees while working day jobs and supporting families.