Commencement Activities
Please read the following carefully and share this information with the guests you have invited to join you in your celebration.
As schedule details of activities are finalized they will be updated here.
Related Commencement Events
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Grad Finale
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Pounds Lounge (lower level of Roy L. Smith Student Center)
Southwestern College’s Grad Finale is your one-stop source for everything you’ll need to graduate—everything but the degree, that is. Your cap and gown, announcements, and on-campus resources will all be in one convenient place.
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Honors Convocation
4:00 p.m. in Richardson Performing Arts Center
Speaker: TBA
At this time in the academic year, we recognize the academic and leadership honors earned by our students.
Graduates and faculty are asked to wear commencement regalia to the ceremony.
Although this is a traditional main campus program, Professional Studies learners who qualified for the Dean's Honor Roll for fall 2024 will be recognized on the printed program. Professional Studies learners and their families are welcome to attend and participate in the convocation should they choose to do so.
Instructions for graduates and faculty
At 3:50 p.m. graduates will gather outside of Deets Library and faculty will line the sidewalk to the 77 steps. The faculty will follow the graduates up the 77 steps. Students, staff, family, and friends in attendance will follow faculty in to RPAC for the ceremony. The Honors Convocation processional up the 77 steps is a special tradition of the college. In the event of rain, graduates will meet in the upper level of Christy Administration Building and faculty will meet in the lower level.
Class of 2025 Commencement Activities
Friday, May 2, 2025
Commencement Rehearsal
10:00 a.m. in TBA
- Rehearsal is primarily targeted to Main Campus undergraduates, but all are welcome. (Directions for those who can’t make it to rehearsal will be briefly repeated at the lineup on Sunday.)
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Order of the Mound Ceremony
9:45 a.m. at Cole Mound Plaza
- Recognition of students graduating in the top 10% of the class and meeting guidelines stated in the college catalog.
- Graduates will be notified May 2 and 3 if they qualify for this honor.
- Caps and gowns are worn for this ceremony.
In case of inclement weather the ceremony will be held in Richardson Performing Arts Center in Christy Administration Building.
Baccalaureate Service
10:50 a.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, 320 College St., Winfield
- There is no seating order for this service (you may sit with your friends and family).
- Caps and gowns are not worn to the service.
- All graduates and their families are invited to attend.
Live Video Stream
For unable to attend in-person, you can watch the live stream on YouTube:
Graduate Hooding & Commencement
for Main Campus and Professional Studies graduate students
Time TBA - Location TBA
Commencement Ceremony
for Main Campus and Professional Studies undergraduate students
Time TBA in Richard L. Jantz Stadium
- In case of inclement weather the ceremony will be held in Stewart Field House. (If we move to the inclement weather plan, we ask each graduate to bring no more than six guests due to space limitations.)
Live Video Stream
For those unable to attend the in-person ceremony, the event will be streamed live on YouTube:Information for Graduates
Time TBA - Pick up name cards and line up in Stewart Field House.
- Caps and gowns are worn for this ceremony.
- Graduate Students' hoods are carried on your arm until you are hooded on stage.
- Line up order is by degree not major.
Procession to the east side of Stewart Field House
- Listen carefully to instructions given and follow the junior marshals.
- The stage party and the faculty precede you in line. When you proceed to the seating area, sit down to be sure every chair is filled.
- The junior marshals will cue you when it is time for your row to stand and proceed to the stage.
- During the commencement ceremonies, there will be a picture taken of you and the President and another of you in front of the flags. There will also be a designated area for family to take pictures of you should they choose to do so. See details about Genesee Photo Systems here. An institutional gallery of images from Commencement weekend ceremonies will be available at www.sckans.edu/commencement.
- You will be given two name cards—one card for the reader as you enter onto the stage; the second card should be given to the photographer’s assistant when your picture is taken with the flags after crossing the stage.
- Return to your seat for the remainder of the ceremony.
Diploma Pick-Up
- Graduates whose degrees have been conferred effective May 4 may pick up their diploma immediately after the ceremony at the concession stand at the south end of Jantz Stadium.
- Those who walk but are May 30 or August 30 graduates will be contacted by the Registrar's Office about diploma delivery.
**Graduates with physical limitations should contact the registrar's office at 1-800-846-1543 ext. 6268 by May 1st ***
Need a map or directions? Go HERE!
Weather Updates
In case of inclement weather, the decision to move commencement exercises indoors will be posted on www.sckans.edu/campus, your sckans.edu email and social media sites. You can also call (620) 229-6333 or 800-846-1543 ext. 6333 for more information.
