2024 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony | May 20 | 3 p.m.
The 2024 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony will take place on Monday, May 20, 2024 at 3 p.m. in Shriver Hall on Homewood Campus. The event will run for about an hour, with a reception to follow. Parents and guests are welcome, and tickets are not required. More information will be provided in the coming months.
2024 Whiting School Doctoral Hooding Ceremony FAQ
When and where is the 2024 Whiting School of Engineering Doctoral Hooding Ceremony?
Date: May 20, 2024 (Monday)
Time: 3:00pm
Location: Shriver Hall | 3400 N. Charles St. | Baltimore, MD | 21210
Reception: Wyman Quad, directly following ceremony
Doctoral Hooding Ceremony and role of the Faculty Advisor
The doctoral hooding ceremony honors doctoral candidates who have completed their degree requirements between summer 2023 through spring 2024. During the ceremony, the graduates will be hooded onstage by their faculty advisor (or an authorized substitute) as a public symbol of the graduate’s doctoral status.
The hooding ceremony planning committee will request your advisor’s name during the RSVP registration process—please check with your advisor to see if they can attend and hood you. If they cannot come, you can still be hooded by an alternate department representative, so it is important to coordinate this by the time the ceremony registration opens in early March.
RSVP process
All students who have completed or are nearing completion of their Doctoral degree requirements will receive invitations to RSVP directly from Marching Order around the first week of March. Each graduate will be required to RSVP to attend the ceremony and must RSVP by Wednesday, April 17.
Please note that an invitation to RSVP does not guarantee eligibility to participate or indicate confirmed degree completion. Please consult with your academic program if you have any questions about your conferral timeline and requirements.
Doctoral Hooding Ceremony Reception
All graduates and guests are welcome to attend the WSE Doctoral Hooding Reception directly after the graduation ceremony. The reception will be held on the Wyman Quad directly outside Shriver Hall on Homewood campus. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be provided.
Guests
Family and friends are welcome to attend the ceremony and reception. However, due to the constraints of Shriver Hall, you are allotted a maximum number of six guests per graduate. If you wish to invite more than six guests, please reach out to wsehooding@jhu.edu by April 19 to see if there is additional space. Guests will not be provided with tickets, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.s.
Hotels
Guests who need to book hotel accommodations are encouraged to do so as early as possible. A number of local hotels are offering special rates for the families and friends of JHU graduates. For more information, please visit the JHU Commencement Hotels webpage.
Livestream of the event
The event will be livestreamed for guests unable to attend in person. Additionally, graduates who are unable to attend the ceremony in person will be recognized through a customized recognition slide. The livestream will be recorded and accessible after the ceremony.
Regalia
Each graduate will need to wear appropriate regalia to participate in the ceremony. Rental regalia can be ordered online at www.jhu.shopoakhalli.com. Doctoral rental regalia must be ordered online and will be shipped to the bookstore for pickup starting May 13. The deadline to order your regalia is Friday, April 5.
Purchasing custom regalia? All Fine Quality custom regalia orders must be purchased by March 18 to ensure enough time for delivery.
Please note: You will not need to order a hood when you rent or purchase your regalia (cap and gown). The hoods will be a congratulatory gift to you from the Whiting School of Engineering and can be picked up at check-in on the day of the ceremony. If you are unable to attend the ceremony in person, you may request that your hood be mailed to your home address following the ceremony.
Rented doctoral regalia must be returned to the bookstore by Friday, May 24.
Questions about regalia should be directed to Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins at 410-662-5850.
Regalia Grad Fair
The Grad Fair will take place from April 11 to 13 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day at the Johns Hopkins Barnes & Noble at 3330 Saint Paul Street. Vendors will be on hand with information about class rings, announcements, and diploma frames. Please note, doctoral regalia can only be ordered online; Grad Fair is an opportunity to purchase other items.
How to wear regalia
This short video shows how to wear and care for your regalia. Please note, you will be hooded during the ceremony by your faculty advisor. Please drape the hood over your left arm until that point in the ceremony.
Day-of details
Students should plan to arrive by 1:30 p.m. to Shriver Hall in full regalia to check in. Any student who does not bring proper regalia will not be permitted to participate in the ceremony. All graduates will be given a complimentary hood during check-in. Shriver Hall will open to guests starting at 2:00 p.m.
GradImages will take pictures of each graduate as they are hooded on stage and at the rear of the auditorium after exiting the stage. The photographer will contact graduates directly after the event to offer various purchasing options.
National Anthem – Request for Graduating Student Performers!
Have a good singing voice or play an instrument? We are looking for a few participants to sing or play the national anthem at this event. If interested, please submit a video file here by Friday, April 19.
COVID-19 protocols
he ceremony will follow all university COVID-19 guidelines. The most current guidelines for campus events are available here. For answers to frequently asked questions, please visit the university’s Coronavirus Information FAQs page.
Shriver Hall restrictions
Food and drink are not permitted in Shriver Hall. The use of recording devices is allowed. Please note, a recording of the ceremony will be available in early summer.
Parking
It is recommended that guests park in the South Garage lot. Parking will be free for this event. Additional information can be found on the Parking & Transportation page.
Accessibility
The main entrance of Shriver Hall, facing Wyman Quad, has wheelchair-accessible ramps. While the South Garage is about a three-minute walk from Shriver Hall, there is a drop-off location on the service road along the south side of Shriver Hall. There is also an option to take a golf cart from the garage to the front of Shriver Hall. Within Shriver Hall, there is a main elevator with access to all floors (located on the first floor just off the lobby) and accessible restrooms available on all levels.
There are multiple accessible seating options available for graduates and guests. Please see an access usher upon your arrival, and they will direct you to an accessible seat.
Shriver Hall is equipped with an Assistive Listening System. Upon arrival at Shriver Hall, please see an access usher for a headset or earbud.
The ceremony will be interpreted for audience members; if needed, please ask an access usher upon your arrival to seat you in the ASL section. Captions and ASL interpretation will also be available on the livestream.
Please contact wsehooding@jhu.edu by April 19 if you or a guest needs ASL interpretation or captioning.
During the ceremony, graduates will be hooded on the stage. There are four stairs leading up to the stage; for those unable to manage these stairs, there is a lift up to the stage. If you or your advisor need to use the lift, please let wsehooding@jhu.edu know by April 19.
Requests for large-print or Braille program books should be sent to wsehooding@jhu.edu by April 19.
If you need an accommodation not listed above, please send your requests to wsehooding@jhu.edu no later than Friday, April 19.
Diplomas
Diplomas will not be given out at the ceremony; all diplomas will be mailed in early summer. Please note that under university regulations, all final grades must be posted, and any outstanding JHU accounts must be paid in full before a student’s diploma may be released. More information about receiving your diploma can be found on the Office of the University Registrar’s website: https://registrar.jhu.edu/diplomas/
University-wide Commencement
The formal conferring of degrees by President Ronald J. Daniels will take place during the universitywide Commencement exercises on Thursday, May 23rd at 9:00 a.m. at Homewood Field. More information can be found here.
More information
Please contact us with any questions: wsehooding@jhu.edu