Undergraduate Commencement
Commencement is a long-standing tradition that celebrates the achievements of our graduates. It is the culmination of our students’ hard work over the course of the last four years (and sometimes even longer), and in the case of our graduate students, intensive study over a shorter period of time.
The 2023 Undergraduate Commencement is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the Crown Coliseum, 1960 Coliseum Dr., Fayetteville, NC 28306. Specific details concerning graduation from Methodist University and the Commencement ceremony itself have been emailed to the graduates.
Livestream
Visit the Crown Complex Event Streaming page for a livestream of Commencement. The broadcast will begin approximately 10 minutes prior to the event start (10 a.m.).
Graduation Participation Form
Use this form to indicate whether you will attend the graduation ceremony, the name of your sponsor for the hooding ceremony during graduation, and an address to contact you after graduation. The graduation participation form must be returned by April 7, 2023.
Graduation Hooding Ceremony
Let us know the name of the sponsor (one parent, spouse, child, faculty member, or friend) who will hood you during the graduation ceremony. The hooding ceremony takes place as you cross the stage to receive your diploma. Your sponsor, who holds the hood during the ceremony, will place the hood over your head just before President Wearden hands you your diploma cover.
Many of our graduates choose a sponsor who has made a positive impact on their time at the University. This includes a parent, child, and even a staff or faculty member. Your sponsor and their relationship to you will be announced as you walk across the stage.
The academic hood is a visual representation of your level of academic achievement and the scholastic degree being conferred. The hood is designed to be worn with the velvet side up and the small, tapered end in the front. The small, tapered end has a cord you may attach to a shirt button to prevent the hood from riding against your neck. The velvet trim represents the learning discipline (major), the chevron represents the college conferring the degree, the lining represents the University, and the black shell is the traditional color determined by the Intercollegiate Bureau.
Hooding Instructional Video
Senior Survey
The Graduating Senior Survey allows you to provide feedback about your educational experiences at Methodist University. The survey is anonymous and is used to help us improve our programs and services. This survey will be emailed to your student account. You must complete the form before tickets will be made available.
Honor Graduates
The appropriate designation will appear on the undergraduate student’s diploma and transcript. Only the student’s cumulative residency grade point average will be considered for graduation honors as follows:
- Summa Cum Laude: 3.90
- Magna Cum Laude: 3.70
- Cum Laude: 3.50
To graduate with honors, students must have completed a minimum of 60 credits of graded courses in an undergraduate program at Methodist University.
Caps & Gowns
Please order your cap and gown online by March 31, 2023. Click the link and search for Methodist University to order the correct regalia.
Graduation Cap Decoration
Please take into consideration the following guidelines when decorating your graduation caps (gowns may not be decorated):
- Only the flat, top area of the mortar board may be decorated. There may be nothing hanging down from any of the sides of the cap.
- Decorations must be flat on the surface of the cap. 3-D creations are prohibited.
- No advertisements. No symbols, abbreviations, initials, words, slogans, patches, or pictures that refer to drugs or controlled substances, tobacco, alcohol, or weapons or be of a sexual nature, denote an affiliation with gangs or which advocate violence or hate.
Methodist University reserves the right to confiscate any cap that is not in compliance with the university handbooks, policies, and procedures.
Failure to follow these rules will result in being asked to wear a plain cap provided by the Office of Academic Affairs. Students will not be allowed to participate in the ceremony without caps and gowns.
Grads Give Back
In 2014, a group of seniors wanted to leave a lasting legacy at MU. They collected donations from more than 150 graduates and named the new campaign Grads Give Back. Did you know your tuition only covers 75 percent of the cost for you to attend MU? Donations from alumni and friends of the University filled the gap to make your education possible.
Now it’s your turn! By supporting the Grads Give Back campaign, your gift is your first chance to pay it forward for students at MU. Make a gift and receive your Class of 2023 t-shirt. Stop by the Mallett-Rogers House behind the soccer field or donate by visiting donate.methodist.edu/grads.
Library Clearance
All library materials must be returned by May 4, 2023. There is no grace period. All items checked out by seniors are due by this date. Any items not returned by this due date will be billed to the student’s account, including a restocking fee ($5) and billing fee ($5). If the items are returned after the bill is sent, we will credit the student’s account for the cost of the items and the restocking fee. The billing fee, however, is non-refundable.
Student Accounts Office Clearance
Your Student Financial Account must be settled by April 20, 2023. To have your diploma, official transcript, or other official University documents released, you must have a zero balance on your student financial account. Check the Student Accounts tab on your myMU Portal and make any necessary payment. Linda 910.630.7284, Monique 910.630.7018, or Diana 910.630.7619 are here to help you with questions.
Parking Fines
The Public Safety Office issues tickets for parking violations. Should students receive a parking violation, they are encouraged to pay the fine or appeal the ticket by going to the Division of Student Affairs Office in the Berns Student Center Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to pick up an appeal form within three days of receiving the ticket. Any unpaid parking fines will be billed to the student’s account.
Tickets
Each graduate will be issued ten tickets that can be distributed to families and friends. Graduates and Sponsors will enter the Coliseum with their own tickets (that are in addition to the ten guest tickets).
Venue Policies
Methodist University is partnering with the Crown Coliseum for Commencement. This event venue has its own rules that guests are required to abide by. Please take a look at the Crown Coliseum Policies before arriving.
Flag Presentation
If you are a native of a foreign country and a non-U.S. citizen, please indicate which country you are from on the Graduation Participation Form. If you are the first graduate from your country and are interested in being recognized for such during the graduation ceremony, please notify the Office of Academic Affairs by calling (910) 630-7031 prior to April 7, 2023.
Baccalaureate Service
This semester’s Baccalaureate service will be held Friday, May 5, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. in Matthews Chapel.
Graduate Dress
Cap and gown (no hood)
Baccalaureate Speaker
The Rev. Dr. Clay Barrow
Senior Pastor, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Greensboro, NC
Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology and Supervised Ministry, Hood Theological Seminary
Message: “A Charge to Keep I Have”
What is the Baccalaureate service?
History: The baccalaureate is a service inherited from the universities of Western Europe and associated with the commencement exercises of American colleges and universities since the early 1700s. The term baccalaureate is derived from two Latin words, bacca and laurens, which refer to wreaths of berries and laurel worn by new graduates in the medieval period of Europe. The baccalaureate service remains to this day an integral part of the commencement exercises of many of America’s privately endowed colleges and universities and symbolizes the connection between these increasingly secular institutions and their historic and religious origins. As part of the commencement celebration, Methodist University offers its graduates and their families and friends this baccalaureate service, a tradition of Methodist College and Methodist University unbroken since 1956 (except in May 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Who can attend the service?
All graduates (undergraduate and graduate), their families, faculty, staff, and friends are invited to attend. Tickets are not required.
Where can I find more information about the service?
Graduates wanting to participate as leaders/readers in the Baccalaureate service should contact the Rev. Kelli W. Taylor, University Chaplain, ktaylor@methodist.edu by April 1, 2023. For more information on the Baccalaureate service, contact the Office of Religious Life at 910.630.7157 or religiouslife@methodist.edu.