Commencement

The plan for a ceremony for the Class of 2020 is under development. The ceremony will be Sunday, April 25 at 11:15 a.m. Those alumni who have signed up using the University Registrar form will be receiving more information soon.

Information for the entire campus – honoring 2020 and 2021 graduates – is at commencement.missouri.edu.

Law School Ceremony – Class of 2021

The in-person ceremony for the School of Law Class of 2021 will be Sunday, May 16 at 4:15 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. To keep you and your guests safe, the ceremony will be socially distanced, masks will always be required, and will not exceed one hour and 15 minutes.

Each participating graduate is eligible to receive a block of six tickets for the ceremony. Tickets will be available for pickup at The Mizzou Store closer to commencement, details are provided on this page. For your family and friends who cannot attend in person, every ceremony will be livestreamed for online viewing and will remain posted on the website for later viewing.

Information for graduation ceremonies for the entire campus is at commencement.missouri.edu. This includes an FAQ page which might provide helpful information not provided here.

Law School Ceremony Details

Date: Sunday, May 16
Time: 4:15 p.m.
Location: Hearnes Center

For the ceremony participants:

Doors open at 3:15 p.m., one hour before the ceremony. Plan to arrive no later than 30 minutes ahead of the ceremony start time to check in and get seated. You must wear academic regalia (cap, tassel, gown, and hood), which you can purchase from The Mizzou Store. More details on the regalia are posted on this page. Your name will be called during the ceremony, and you will walk across the floor in front of a proud audience of classmates, family, and friends.

For the ceremony guests attending in person:

Doors open at 3:15 p.m., one hour before the ceremony. Each participating graduate is eligible to receive a block of six tickets for their ceremony. Participants are responsible for picking up the tickets and giving them to their guests. More details on tickets are on this page.

Guests may enter either the east or west doors of the Hearnes Center. The east entrance is wheelchair accessible and most convenient for persons with disabilities to be dropped off and picked up. Most handicapped designated parking spaces also are located on the east side, with a few spaces available on the west side. The Hearnes Center elevator is accessible from the east entrance.

For the ceremony guests joining virtually:

Every ceremony will be livestreamed for online viewing by family and friends who cannot attend in person. The ceremony will remain posted online for later viewing as well. Livestreaming will be at commencement.missouri.edu.

Parking:

Free parking is available in the Hearnes Center parking lot.  Most of the parking is east of the Hearnes Center (the side with the softball stadium). The recommended entrance to that parking is from Stadium Boulevard to Champions Drive. There is also parking available on the west side of the Hearnes Center (the side with Memorial Stadium) using the Mick Deaver entrance off of Stadium Boulevard.

Photography:

  • Grad Images will take a photo of each commencement participant prior to the ceremony in a designated area.
  • Families cannot be allowed on the floor to take photos since we need to maintain the 6-foot social distancing.

Regalia:

Participants can purchase and pick up doctoral regalia (gown, hood, cap and tassel) at The Mizzou Store at any time. They have regalia in stock. Or, order online at https://www.themizzoustore.com/c-1059-law-jd.aspx.

For JD students, the gown and hood are the doctoral purple law velvet and are the same for everyone. For the cap, participants can choose to purchase a traditional mortarboard cap with the longer traditional purple law tassel. Alternatively, participants can purchase the tam, with the shorter purple law tassel. Photos are on the link above.

Participants are responsible for picking up their own regalia. Because we are not allowed to hood the graduates at the ceremony, participants will wear their full regalia, including the hood, to the ceremony.

Tassels can be easily lost. Keep yours secure. The law school staff will not have extra tassels if yours gets lost.

Tickets:

Each participant is eligible to receive a block of six tickets for the ceremony if you indicated on the Graduation Application that you plan to attend your commencement ceremony. Law graduates have until May 3 to update your RSVP in the myZou Graduation Application.

Tickets are picked up from The Mizzou Store, May 10-16. Tickets cannot be mailed. On the weekend of graduation, The Mizzou Store will open an hour earlier than the earliest ceremony on Saturday and Sunday for ticket pick up (ceremonies on May 15-16 begin at 8 a.m.).

  • The Mizzou Store will log the tickets given to the commencement participant.
  • Commencement participants will need to keep track of the recipients of their tickets in case there is need for contact tracing.
  • All participants will need their Mizzou ID to pick up tickets.
  • Tickets can only be picked up by the commencement participant.

Accessible seating for families and guests – Due to social distancing requirements, accessible seating may be reduced from full capacity. If your guest(s) require accessible seating, please let Denise Boessen know as soon as possible, but no later than April 30, which type of seats should be reserved:

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Limited Mobility / Limited Stairs

If guests need wheelchairs or other assistance, their families need to secure this from other sources.  MU doesn’t provide this service. A list of local rental options is on the main university commencement site FAQ page.

NOTE: Those who request accessible tickets fraudulently (without a party-member with an accessibility need) may be relocated or removed from the event.

A few other notes about tickets:

  • All 6 tickets are in a pod grouped together in assigned seats.
  • Tickets may not be shared between pods.
  • Pods are social distanced by 6 feet.
  • Each ticket will be printed with the date, time, location, name of ceremony, section, row, and seat number.
  • Any child 2 and under can sit on a lap without a ticket.