Commencement FAQs

Tickets will be available for purchase online from Monday, March 24 through Friday, May 9, 2025, or at the door on the day of Commencement. (All attendees require a ticket, including graduates.)

MBA graduates will receive two complimentary brunch tickets.

View Commencement Brunch Details

Willamette College

If you missed Senior Salute, your cap, gown, stole and tassel will be available for pick up at the Willamette Store the week prior to graduation during business hours (see below).

Law and MBA Graduates

Your regalia will be available at the Willamette Store (under your name) the week prior to graduation (see business hours below).

Joint Degree Graduates

Joint Degree students will wear Law regalia to both ceremonies, switching the hoods for each ceremony. Be sure to pick up both the MBA and Law hoods with your regalia. At the conclusion of your ceremony, all graduate/professional school hoods, Law caps, and gowns are to be returned to the Willamette Store. MBA graduates may keep the mortarboard and tassel.

Willamette Store Business Hours

• M-F, May 12–16: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Sat, May 17: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Sun, May 18: 8 .a.m. – 2 p.m.

The Willamette College undergraduate ceremony lasts approximately 2-2½ hours. In addition, it can take more time than expected for graduates, family members and friends to reunite and exit campus.

The Willamette Store, located on the first floor of the University Center, sells flowers on graduation day, including leis and roses.

• Bon Appetit caters an elegant and popular brunch available in Goudy Commons from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for students and their parents.
• The Bistro offers coffee and small snacks from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The Willamette Store is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

If you would like to order personalized graduation announcement products from Jostens, please visit their website or call 1-800-488-2173.

MBA students will be provided eight complimentary Atkinson Commencement Ceremony announcements.

For family and friends of graduates who are not able to travel to Salem for the commencement ceremony, a live stream of each event will be available. The broadcast will be posted on each school's Commencement page and will begin approximately five minutes before each ceremony.

All Willamette University parking lots are open and available for guests attending Commencement ceremonies except the Visitors Parking Lot (corner of Bellevue and Winter streets), which is reserved for handicapped parking. Guests should also not park in permanent reserved spaces, marked with green signs at the specific parking spaces. Street parking is available free of charge around the perimeter of Willamette University and the State Capitol.

View parking information on the Campus Map

During Commencement, we ask that family members do not approach the stage to take pictures. The University has contracted with professional photographers from GradImages to take photos of all graduates. These photos capture the moment graduates shake hands with President Thorsett and receive their diploma, along with portrait shots of the graduates as they exit the stage.

GradImages will contact you about your proofs after the ceremony through your school email address. You may pre-register to receive discounts on your pictures here: Willamette Photos

To contact GradImages or learn more about their service, please call (800) 261-2576 or visit the GradImages website.

Commencement is a special event for all involved. Please show respect for everyone who has come to share in the experience. Individuals who engage in inappropriate or disruptive behavior will be removed from the event.

The following items are prohibited:

• Alcohol. Anyone intoxicated or perceived to be intoxicated will be removed from the event.
• Fireworks
• Weapons of any kind
• Large banners, posters, signs or flags on poles
• Artificial noisemakers
• Bullhorns or other sound amplification devices
• Tobacco, cannabis or other smoking products
• Laser pointers or devices
• Drones

Willamette University allows reserved seating one hour prior to any ceremony. One person must remain with their reserved seats at all times.

Tickets are not needed for the Salem campus commencement ceremonies and students are not limited in the number of guests they may bring.

• Visiting Salem Campus
• Travel Salem: Where to stay in Salem
• Printable Campus Map
• Interactive Campus Map

The Willamette Store bookstore will be open during the following hours the week of Commencement:

• M-F, May 12–16: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Sat, May 17: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Sun, May 18: 8 .a.m. – 2 p.m.