Baccalaureate

Friday, May 11, 2012
5 p.m.
Marcus Pavilion

Baccalaureate is an evening vespers service followed by the formal presentation of the academic hood.

Students of all faiths and their families are invited and encouraged to participate in baccalaureate. Baccalaureate is not a ticketed event, but reservations are required by May 4 to ensure the accommodation of all graduates and their guests.

Robing
All degree candidates are to wear their gowns for the baccalaureate and hooding ceremony. It is best not to wear your cap, as it interferes with the hooding. Please come dressed in your gown, as changing rooms are not available.

Processional
All graduates must arrive to the Norman Worthington Conference Center by 4:15 p.m. Graduates will line up alphabetically by college and degree. Volunteer ushers will direct graduates into seats and organize the recessional. The processional into Marcus Pavilion begins at 4:50 p.m.

Receiving the hood
Traditionally, the hood is the colorful standard bearer of academic symbolism. The hood reveals the level of the degree, the academic field of learning in which the degree was earned, and the institution that conferred the degree.

Hoods earned at Saint Martin's are lined in red and white, the school colors.

Some English scholars claim that the hood is a vestige of the monastic hood or cowl.

The hood will be draped over each graduate's head. A graduate who chooses to wear his or cap may need to remove it before receiving the hood, if the cap is not secured to his or her head.

President's Reception
All graduates and their guests are welcome to attend a reception, hosted by Saint Martin's University President Roy F. Heynderickx, Ph.D., in the Norman Worthington Conference Center immediately following baccalaureate.