Information for Family and Guests
Commencement is a celebration not only of personal achievement for the graduate but also of the collective effort and support family and friends have given to their graduate along the way. You have played an important role in their success. Thank you for helping make this day possible for your loved one. We look forward to celebrating their graduation with you!
Graduation Tickets
Graduates can bring five guests to the ceremony. The college does not issue graduation tickets. You must arrive and enter the building with your graduate. Children are included in the five-person limit; however, infants younger than 1 are not.
Family members and friends who cannot attend the ceremony can watch the livestream on the homepage of this microsite.
Ceremony Logistics
The ceremonies will be in the Cyclone Center inside the Health, Fitness & Recreation Center (Building H) at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Your graduate will choose one ceremony to attend. Doors to Building H will open one hour before each ceremony.
You must arrive with your graduate to gain entrance into the building. You then will proceed into the Cyclone Center to find your seats in the bleachers while your graduate checks in. Limited floor seating will be reserved for guests in wheelchairs and their family members. Guests with other physical limitations can sit in reserved seating in the first and second rows of the bleachers on both sides of the gym.
IMPORTANT: Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony to allow for enough time to find seats. Entrance to the gym will stop when the ceremony begins, and late graduates/guests will wait in the lobby until the national anthem is over. Please do not be late! The ceremony will start on time.
The ceremony should last about one hour. After the ceremony, graduates will recess out to the parking lot in front of Building H. Guests will be held until all of the graduates have left the gym. You can meet your graduate in the parking lot.
Parking
Building H is located on the west side of the Palos Hills campus. Parking is available in any of the campus parking lots (except for the Building H lot). Signs will direct you to these locations. The lots closest to the ceremony are C1, C2, D3 and F.
Handicapped guests can be dropped off at the front door of the Health, Fitness & Recreation Center. Parking for handicapped guests is located in the small lot south of Building H, adjacent to the building.
Congratulate Your Graduate
Congratulatory messages to graduates will play on the video screens before the start of each ceremony and will be shared through the college’s social media platforms. You are invited to use the form below to share a free congratulatory message to your graduate.
Please note: Long messages are more difficult to read on the screen due to font size and slide duration. It’s best to stay under 30 words. Slides will be monitored for content.
Send Congratulations to Your Graduate
You also can honor and congratulate your graduate with an engraved brick in the college’s Shakespeare Garden. Each brick can include up to three lines of text with 14 characters (including spacing) per line. Bricks are $100 each and can be purchased online at nhmhcar.com/buy-a-brick.
Questions? Reach out to Jessica Crotty at crotty@nhmhcar.com.
