Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Time: 10:00am
Location: Chesapeake Conference Center
700 Conference Center Drive
Chesapeake, Virginia 23320
**Please read through all of the information provided on this site VERY CAREFULLY.**
Graduates are responsible for ALL information presented.
All ceremonies will be streamed live on our Facebook page. Head over to www.facebook.com/sentaracollege to watch! (You do not need an account to watch.)
Graduates are expected to be at the conference center NO LATER than 8:30am fully dressed in regalia and ready (make up, hair, etc.). You are expected to be lined up for rehearsal by 8:50am. Rehearsal will start promptly at 9:00am.
When you arrive to the center, you will enter in the doors to the right (there will be signage). You will check in at the check in desk and you'll receive your name card. Do not lose this card!
NOTE: Late arrivals will negatively impact the coordination, lineup, seating of the event, and may result in you being seated at the end of the lineup or not being seated with your fellow graduates. College officials are aware that extenuating circumstances can occur; therefore, it is important to communicate to your program official and/or another classmate if you are experiencing an extenuating situation that will cause you to be late.
Family and friends are to use the center doors to enter at the rotunda, which will open at 8:30am. Please make sure your family and friends are aware that the doors to the ceremony area will NOT open until the rehearsal has been completed. We will make every effort to have the doors open for seating by 9:30am, but this is dependent upon the completion of the rehearsal.
Absolutely NO family/friends will be permitted to come into the graduates' area prior to the ceremonies.
All graduates, family, and friends must exit the center, including the parking area, no later than 12:30pm. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
NOTE: There is very limited seating available in the family/friends line up area for individuals who may not be able to stand for extended periods of time. Please make sure your family/friends are aware.
Each graduate will receive 10 tickets for their family and friends to attend the Commencement Ceremony. Information on how/when to pick up will be emailed when available. In order to receive your tickets, you must turn in your student ID badge and attachments (emergency code card, if you received one, and "Student - [Program]" card). If your program did not require you to have a badge, you will simply provide proof of identity when you pick up your tickets.
Graduates are not required to have an admission ticket.
Children 3 and under are not required to have a ticket; however, they are required to sit on a ticketed adult's lap for the entire ceremony. This is due to fire code regulations.
NOTES:
If you are out of town and cannot pick up your tickets in person, please contact the Office of the Registrar immediately at registrar@sentara.edu.
You are welcome to share your tickets with other graduates through the "Ticket Exchange" discussion board.
Please click here to provide your name pronunciation to the Office of the Registrar no later than Friday, May 9th. It is important to us that we say your name correctly as you walk across the stage.
There are no secure areas for personal belongings/valuables in the center. Please leave these items at home or locked out of sight in your vehicle.
Due to visual obstruction, balloons and signs are NOT permitted inside the center. Please inform family and friends to either keep balloons and signs in their cars or at home as they will not be allowed to enter with them. Additionally, because of fire code regulations, strollers and car seats are not permitted in the center.
Click the "Next" button below to learn about dress code for the Commencement Ceremony.