Master's Hooding Ceremony

ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN

• Arrive at the Lied Center promptly at 9:50 a.m. There is another ceremony preceding ours, so there will be people exiting the building. Enter through the pavilion entrance (when facing the main entrance, the pavilion entrance is located down the hill to the right).
• Check in at the registration table to pick up your name card. Hold on to your name card. You will need to hand it to the announcer as you walk across the stage.
• After checking in, locate your faculty hooder as quickly as possible.
• If your faculty hooder is hooding more than one student, you will need to wait until all of the hooder’s students have arrived before taking your place in one of the procession lines. All students being hooded by the same person need to line up together.
• If your faculty hooder is unable to attend or has not arrived by 10:10 a.m., please notify a staff member at the registration table. There will be a designated faculty hooder available to hood you, and you will be directed to a separate line.
• By 10:15 a.m. all graduates and hooders must be in one of the two procession lines.
  
   

ENTERING THE CEREMONY

• Wear your cap with the tassel on the left side. Carry your hood folded over your right arm with the top toward your body and the white velvet strip toward your hand.
• The Marshal will lead the procession into the auditorium and will seat you. Be sure to stay in the same row as your faculty hooder. Remain standing until all students and faculty have entered.
• The first speaker will notify you when it is appropriate to sit. Remove your cap as soon as you are seated.
• Undergraduate Distinction/Highest Distinction students will be corded first.
• When the hooding of the master’s degree candidates begins, the Marshal will send you row by row up to the stage. Please leave your cap in your seat.
  
   

GETTING HOODED

• Your hood should be draped over your right arm as you follow your hooder onto the stage.
• Give your name card to the person at the lectern at the top of the stairs.
• Hand your hood to your hooder with the hood colors facing away from you. Your faculty hooder will be standing behind you. Step in front of your faculty hooder, standing on the floor close to the front of the riser, facing the audience. The hood will be placed over your head as your name is read. Taller students may need to bend at the knee slightly to allow the hooder to reach without straining. *Please watch the hooding demonstration video below.
• Shake your hooder’s hand after they hood you, then proceed across the stage. You will be led immediately to a green screen where your photo will be taken.
• Head back to your original seat and be seated.
  
   

LEAVING THE CEREMONY

• After the closing remarks, the University Marshals will lead you out of the venue. There is another ceremony immediately following ours, so please assist the Lied Center staff by promptly exiting the building.

ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN

• Arrive at the Lied Center promptly at 9:50 a.m. There is another ceremony preceding ours, so there will be people exiting the building. Enter through the pavilion entrance (when facing the main entrance, the pavilion entrance is located down the hill to the right).
• Faculty donot need to check in at the registration table. Please proceed directly to the pavilion to meet up with your students.
• Please focus on locating the student(s) you will be hooding as quickly as possible. Line-up instructions will be given at approximately 10:05 a.m. Be sure to stay with your entire group of students, line up together, and sit in the same row of seats in the auditorium. We recommend practicing hooding one of your students prior to entering the auditorium.
• By 10:15 a.m. all faculty hooders and students must be located in one of the two procession lines.
• The Marshal will lead the procession into the auditorium and will seat you. Again, ensure all of the students you are hooding are seated in the same row. Remain standing until all students and faculty have entered. You may wear your cap during the ceremony or remove it if you wish.
  
   

HOODING YOUR STUDENT(S)

• When the hooding of master’s degree candidates begins, the Marshal will send you row by row up to the stage.
• Walk ahead of your student(s) onto the stage. When your student hands their name card tothe reader at the lectern,step up on the riser just stage right of the lectern and face the audience. The student will step in front of you while the announcer reads their name and degree.
• Remove the hood from the student’s arm. Open it with the colors facing you and place it over the student’s head with the white velvet strip in front. Please adjust the hood so the red and blue satin lining is visible. *Please watch the hooding demonstration video below.
• Shake the student’s hand and remember to smile for any pictures being taken at that moment. Pleasestay where you are until you have hooded all of your students. After you have finished hooding your last student, follow them back to your seat.
  
   

LEAVING THE CEREMONY

• After the closing remarks, the University Marshals will lead you out of the venue behind the stage party. There is another ceremony immediately following ours, so please assist the Lied Center staff by promptly exiting the building.

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this important recognition ceremony for your students! 

Any masterʹs degree student who will graduate this spring, summer or fall or who graduated in the previous fall or summer is welcome to register to participate in the Masterʹs Hooding Ceremony.

Master’s candidate regalia includes a gown, hood, cap and black tassel. These items can be purchased at the KU Bookstore, and we recommend placing your order as soon as possible. Sizes tend to run out as commencement approaches.

• Master’s gown: Long sleeves closed at the end with the arm passing through a slit above the elbow. This differs from the bachelor’s gown, which has bell‐shaped sleeves.
• Cap: Black mortarboard
• Hood: The hood for College of Liberal Arts and Sciences candidates is black with a white velvet strip, with red and blue accents.
• Tassel: Master’s candidates should wear a black tassel. The white tassel for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is for undergraduate students.

Nearly all hooders are faculty members, and they wear regalia from their degree-granting institution. If the hooder holds a master’s degree but not a doctoral degree, they are also encouraged to wear regalia from their previous institution. If not, professional dress is appropriate.

If your faculty advisor/mentor is unable to attend, you may use the designated faculty hooder. You can request to use the designated hooder on the ceremony registration form or upon checking in at the registration table on the day of the ceremony.

The ceremony typically lasts one hour.

The Lied Center is located at 1600 Stewart Drive off of Irving Hill Road and 15th Street. There is plenty of parking available for all participants and guests.

All students with a spring, summer, or fall 2024 application for graduation on file will appear in the ceremony program unless they have opted out of being listed in graduation announcements via KU's application for graduation. Students who graduated in the summer or fall of 2023 will only appear in the program if they register to participate in the ceremony.

No. The Master’s Hooding Ceremony happens only in the spring. Students who graduate in fall or summer semesters are encouraged to participate in either the ceremony prior to or after their graduation semester.

The Master’s Hooding Ceremony is combined with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Distinction Highest Distinction Ceremony for Undergraduate students.

The Master’s Hooding Ceremony is facilitated by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences for its master's degree candidates. The Doctoral Hooding Ceremony is facilitated by the Provost's Office for all KU doctoral candidates.

Unlike the university‐wide commencement procession for all undergraduate and graduate candidates, the Master's Hooding Ceremony individually recognizes each graduate. This is a popular event for family and friends to attend as they can witness the hooding of their graduate.

Yes. The event will be live-streamed and viewable online.

You may request to be placed on a waiting list for additional tickets when you complete the registration form. Additional tickets are not guaranteed, but in the past, we have been able to accommodate most ticket requests.

Tickets will be available for pick up in 109 Strong between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday, April 15 through Wednesday, April 17. Tickets not picked up by the 17th will be mailed to the address you provide on your ceremony registration form.