Barnard Commencement 2013

Welcome to the Barnard Commencement website. With the commencement ceremonies rapidly approaching, we hope you'll find the information provided here useful in making your plans to celebrate your graduate's wonderful achievement.

On Sunday:

• Ticket Will-Call:  Students may leave their tickets for guest pick-up on Sunday at Barnard.  The ticket/s--in a sealed envelope on which the guest's name must be clearly printed-- should be brought to the Student Life Office, 301 Diana Center, by 4:00 pm on Friday, May 17.  On Sunday, the tickets will be brought to the Will Call table, which will be set up outside the main gate at 117th Street between 12:30-2:00 pm.  (There is no Will-Call at Radio City Music Hall.)

• Department/Program Receptions:  Beginning at 1:00 pm on Sunday, guests are invited to meet their graduate's faculty and  deans at receptions  on the Barnard campus until approximately 2:45 pm, when students and faculty taking part in the procession will board buses for Radio City.

• Guest assembly at Radio City:  Before doors open at 3:00 pm, guests will form lines on both 50th and 51st Streets, between Avenue of the Americas (6th Ave.) and Fifth Ave.  For those disabilities and/or limited mobility, please use the entrance at 50th street and 6th avenue (Avenue of the Americas). Staff will be available to assist you to your seats. Please arrive at this entrance between 2:45 and 3:00pm. If you have any questions, please contact Morgan Murray, Director of Disability Services at Barnard College at (212) 854-8466.

• The ceremony will be projected onto large screens on both sides of the stage.  The ceremony will not be a webcast this year.

• Security at Radio City: All guests will be subject to a bag search and wanding.  Backpacks are not permitted, nor are food,  beverages, balloons, or signage.

• At the conclusion of the ceremony (approximately 6:15 pm), the area immediately surrounding Radio City will be quite congested, making it difficult for students and their guests to find each other.  It is advisable to pre-arrange a meeting place a block or two away from the venue.

CEREMONIES

Sunday, May 19, 2013:

• Baccalaureate Service:  9:30 am, St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia campus.  Tickets are not required, but indoor seating is limited.  Additional tented seating will be available on the Chapel lawn. 
• Barnard’s Presentation of Degree Candidates ceremony:  4:00 pm, Radio City Music Hall, at 1260 Ave. of the Americas (between 50^th & 51^st Streets).  Students will receive six guest tickets in early May.  Guest seating will open at 3:00 pm at Radio City. The ceremony is expected to end at approximately 6:15 pm.  
• A reception on the Barnard campus will precede the ceremony at 1:00 pm, and at 3:00 pm, students and faculty will be bused to the venue.   

Wednesday, May 22, 2013:

• University Commencement (the conferring of degrees):  10:30 am, South Lawn, Columbia campus.   Each graduate will receive a maximum of four tickets for the Columbia ceremony after registering online.  Guest seating will open at 8:30 am.

GUESTS WITH DISABILITIES

• The Barnard Office of Disability Services, 212-854-4634, offers a variety of disability-related accommodations for guests with disabilities.  The deadline for requests is Friday, May 3, at 4:00 pm.  The Barnard reception and all ceremonies are wheelchair accessible. 

ACCOMMODATIONS

• Please visit the Barnard website for a list of area hotels.  You may also wish to visit the Columbia website for additional listings.  Some offer discounted rates to Barnard and Columbia University guests. 

PHOTO AND VIDEO

• Arrangements have been made with photography and video companies to take footage of the Barnard ceremony and of your daughter crossing the stage.
  • Photography:  GradImages is the official photographer for the Barnard ceremony.  For information about what they offer, please visit their website.
  • Videos may be purchased online from Collegiate Video.  (Please be sure to use the Order Code provided in the e/mailing to parents. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Personalized graduation announcements may be purchased through Jostens.
• The Columbia Daily Spectator, the University's student newspaper, is offering some services to families and friends of the Class of 2013, including a book featuring over 100 front pages from the 1950's to now, and personalized congratulatory messages in the annual Commencement issue (deadline is May 10).

PARKING

• Parking—both  near Barnard and  Radio City Music Hall-- is extremely limited, and the use of public transportation is strongly encouraged.  Please visit the Barnard website for a listing of local garages near the Barnard campus.

DIRECTIONS

• To the Barnard campus:
  • Visit the getting to campus section of the website. 
• From the Barnard campus to Radio City Music Hall (subway is fastest):
  • Take the #1 subway at 116th St. & Broadway to 50th Street; walk east to Ave. of the Americas (6th Ave.); OR
  • Take the #1 subway at 116th St. & Broadway to 59th Street; change for the downtown D train to the 47-50th St. Rockefeller Center stop, exiting near the intersection of 50th St. and Ave. of the Americas.

Questions?  Please contact Lillian Appel, Commencement Coordinator, lappel@barnard.edu.