Graduates will walk in fewer ceremonies with fewer guest tickets
By Madison Slocum-Juarez, October 20, 2026
Graduating seniors will get fewer guest tickets for Cal Poly Pomona’s spring 2027 commencement, according to University Advancement Vice President Frances Teves who also announced other commencement changes during the Academic Senate meeting Oct. 14.
Graduates will be limited to six guest tickets instead of eight because the number of ceremonies will be reduced from 12 to 10, according to Director of University Events Helen Yniguez. The College of Science will now hold one ceremony instead of two, while the College of Agriculture and the Collins College will share a ceremony. The maximum capacity for graduation is 8,500 people per ceremony, including graduates, staff and guests.
The commencement dates have also changed from May 21-23 to May 24-26, moving the ceremonies from Friday through Sunday to Monday through Wednesday. Most will be during business hours. Three ceremonies will take place at 8 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. each day, apart from the College of Science’s ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Commencement requires up to 85 staff volunteers, according to Teves. Moving commencement to weekdays makes it easier for the university to assign employees during their regular work schedules, CPP President Vanya Quiñones said. Oct. 14 was the first Academic Senate meeting Quiñones attended.
According to University Advancement and Quiñones, the commencement changes demonstrate CPP’s culture of care by considering the staff and volunteer support needed to run ceremonies over three days.
“You’re respecting the employees’ weekend,” Quiñones said. “So really, this is for us to respect our employees, too.”
Marketing student Sophie Nguyen already told her parents commencement was scheduled the weekend after finals, so they could make arrangements to fly in from San Jose. She said with this new schedule, they will have to take off work in addition to paying for flights and hotels.
Nguyen added for many working parents, these changes are even more detrimental because their paychecks are critical for them to pay bills and buy their groceries, so they might have to miss their child’s graduation to make a work shift.
“Unfortunately, some parents are in the position where missing a day or two would be detrimental to them,” Nguyen said. “It’s inconsiderate for a large institution to be making changes to these dates when they have stuck to Friday, Saturday, Sunday for years.”
Moving commencement to weekdays may also create scheduling challenges for families with school-age children, whose siblings could have to miss school to attend the ceremonies.
While Nguyen said she doesn’t have a big family, she is also worried about the number of guest tickets for her friends with bigger ones.
For students who need more than the allotted tickets, there will be a second ticket process for any tickets not reserved. Students will have four weeks to claim their initial six guest tickets. After that period, any unclaimed tickets will be made available, according to Yniguez.
In addition to offering fewer ceremonies, the university wants to shorten the length of commencement by removing the processional where graduates walk in at the beginning with a banner-carrier that identifies their departments. Instead, graduates will be seated as guests arrive, according to Yniguez.
Quiñones and Teves cited heat exposure, an increasing number of graduates, and the time it takes to move attendees in and out of campus as the reasons for removing the processional.
“There is global warming, guys,” Quiñones said. “We have to ensure that elderly parents that are sitting there in the heat and things happening around are considered. I know that 20 minutes or 5 minutes or 3 minutes doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you add it up …”
The executive committee shared its disappointment about the removal of the processional, as students will no longer be able to walk past their families as they enter, according to Academic Senate Chair Gregory Barding.
“Students walking through their families almost feels like you’re on the red carpet in Hollywood, with all those camera flashes,” Barding said. “That’s a really special moment for students as well to walk in together.”
Mario Guerrero, committee chair for the College of Letters, Arts, & Social Sciences, also expressed concern that students would not be able to take pictures with their departments and professors before the processional.
The university will also reduce the number of commencement speakers. Only honorary doctorate speakers will be selected, and two have already been nominated, according to Yniguez.
Printed programs will be eliminated as well. Everything will be available digitally during the week of commencement, with access available to everyone, according to Yniguez.
Yniguez said graduates’ caps and gowns will change from black to green. Students in the McPhee Scholarship Program will receive a distinct green gown, so they can be identified as a McPhee Scholar. There is only one McPhee scholar per ceremony.
Nguyen said as a marketing student she understands why the university would want to make the look more cohesive and make a presentable brand image for the school during the ceremony, but a small change could have a large effect.
Graduates sometimes buy regalia from Amazon because its cheaper and looks the same, according to a previous Poly Post article. Buying a green one might be harder to match depending on the shade.
“It’s a bit outrageous that we even have to do that after spending thousands of dollars just to be here,” she said. “They didn’t think about the bigger picture on how even something as small as changing the color of our gowns can affects how students are able to participate in graduation the same way as other students.”
When The Poly Post reached out for a follow-up interview about these changes, the commencement team declined until details are finalized.
“The university cannot release commencement details publicly until all approvals are in place,” said CPP’s Director of Media Relations Cynthia Peters in an email. “The goal is early November.”
More information about graduation changes can be found on the Academic Senate website.
The next Academic Senate meeting will be Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. in Building 98, Pillar 2, Room 007.
