It’s that time of year again: graduation ceremonies will be taking place all over San Diego, including some this weekend.
Kicking off the first round of ceremonies is San Diego State University (SDSU). All ceremonies are being held at the Viejas Arena, located at 5500 Canyon Crest Dr. According to SDSU, more than 10,000 students will graduate this weekend.
SDSU’s College of Arts and Letters graduation ceremony was held on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Next up, the College of Sciences’ ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, which will be the largest ceremony, honoring over 1,700 degree candidates.
On Saturday, students from the Fowler College of Business will have their ceremony take place at 8 a.m. Following the Fowler College of Business graduation ceremony will be the College of Health and Human Services ceremony, starting at 1 p.m.
After that, it’s the College of Engineering’s turn to take the stage at 5:30 p.m. This will be the smallest ceremony, with 849 degrees being awarded.
On Sunday the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts’ graduation ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. The last round of students to graduate from SDSU will be from the College of Education and Division of Undergraduate Studies, which will start at 2 p.m. Sunday.
SDSU said courtesy parking will be offered during commencement ceremonies at all main parking structures and lots. Campus visitors should be advised that the university expects Viejas Arena to reach its 12,414-person capacity during several ceremonies and alternate modes of transportation to campus are encouraged.
Local
If you can’t make it to the ceremony, not to worry – SDSU says that each ceremony will be live streamed online. Visit the SDSU commencement website for more details.
The following weekend, May 20, the next group of local grads to walk will be from the University of San Diego (USD). All ceremonies will take place at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, located at 5998 Alcala Park.
Grads and their families are welcome to attend the School of Law Commencement Reception held immediately after the graduation ceremony at the Hahn University Center. On May 20 law students graduating from USD’s School of Law will have their ceremony from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
One week later, on May 27, USD’s graduate students from multiple schools will have their ceremonies from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Following the graduate schools’ ceremonies it will be the undergraduates’ turn to walk. On Sunday, May 28, undergraduate students from the College of Arts & Sciences will have their commencement ceremony from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Finally, it will be the students from the Undergraduate School of Business & Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering that will take the final commencement walk at USD on Sunday, May 28, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
USD said guests may enter campus from the east or west entrance to campus.
Parking personnel will be at each entrance to direct guests to parking areas located in the Mission Parking Structure just inside the east entrance. Parking will also available on the west side of campus in the West Parking Structure.
Guests are encouraged to arrive at least one hour before ceremony start-time to avoid traffic congestion. USD tram service will shuttle graduates and guests to and from the Mission and West parking structures and the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
USD will also be broadcasting each of the graduation ceremonies on their website.
The last major San Diego-area university to close out graduation season will be the University of California San Diego.
On Saturday, June 17, the class of 2017 will gather at RIMAC Field for the All Campus Ceremony, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Keynote address will be given by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Following the All Campus Commencement ceremony, all of UC San Diego’s six colleges will hold their individual ceremonies on RIMAC Field as follows:
Warren College
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 2:30 p.m.
John Muir College
Saturday, June 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Thurgood Marshall College
Sunday, June 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Eleanor Roosevelt College
Sunday, June 18 at 8 a.m.
Revelle College
Sunday, June 18 at 3 p.m.
Sixth College
Sunday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m.
UC San Diego said parking will be available all over campus, but graduates and their families should arrive early.
