--- title: 'Information for Graduates' date: '2026-04-24T13:59:05-05:00' type: page word_count: 1183 char_count: 7569 tokens: 1538 --- # Information for Graduates Commencement begins at **2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, at Coleman Coliseum**. Graduates should arrive ****graduates should arrive at the Coliseum between 1:00 and 1:30** **pm**.** with their **full regalia** to check in and receive their **name cards and instructions**. The ceremony generally lasts about **1.5 hours**. A reception will follow in the **Law School backyard**. **Graduates and guests are invited.** --- Arrival And Check-In -------------------- ### When And Where to Arrive Graduates should arrive at the Coliseum between 1:00 and 1:30 pm. Enter **Coleman Coliseum** through the **student athlete entrance** on the **ground floor in the corner nearest the baseball field**. There will be signage pointing to the appropriate doors, and the notes refer to a map with the entrance circled. This year, graduates will assemble in the **hallways around the arena floor**. ### Where To Go When you arrive, check in at the **Registrar table**. ### What To Expect At check-in, graduates will receive their **name card** and, as appropriate, **cords and medals**. If you are missing any part of your regalia, **Supe Store staff** will be available at the Coliseum before the ceremony to help with last-minute issues. ### What To Bring Bring your complete regalia: **robe, hood, hat, and tassel**. You will need to keep anything you bring with you throughout commencement, including **phones, bags, and other items**. Do not bring anything you are not prepared to take into the ceremony. The Coliseum’s **clear bag policy** will be in effect. **No outside food or drinks are allowed**, and **metal detectors** will be in use at all entrances. This applies to **graduates, faculty, staff, and guests**. The administration office also maintains a **donated tam bank** for students who are not able to purchase a tam and would like to borrow one for the ceremony and return it afterward without incurring any cost. If you need to borrow a tam this year, a few are still available. **Email Sonia Cummins** to ask about availability. --- Ceremony -------- ### Day-Of Timeline **1:00–1:30 p.m. | Arrive And Check In** Arrive at Coleman Coliseum, enter through the student athlete entrance, and check in before the ceremony. **1:45 p.m. | Line Up For The Procession** Graduates and faculty line up for the procession. Staff and 2L marshals will help direct the lineup. **2:00 p.m. | Ceremony Begins** Graduates process into the Coliseum, are seated as directed, and cross the stage during the ceremony. ### Lineup And Procession At **1:45 p.m.**, graduates and faculty will line up for the procession. **Dean Brewbaker and the faculty** will lead the procession in **two lines**, followed by the **2L marshals**. The **class valedictorian**, **Harrison Award recipients**, and **SBA President** will line up in the **right line behind the marshals**. The **Order of Samaritan recipients** and **National Anthem singer** will line up in the **left line behind the marshals**. All other graduates will follow in both lines. Graduates are not required to line up in any specific order, but they should split evenly between the two lines. Staff and 2L marshals will assist with lineup. Please follow their instructions. ### Entering And Taking Your Seat Staff and 2L marshals will direct graduates where to go during the procession. Please do not skip seats. Each row should be filled. Remain standing until directed to sit by the Dean. Enter the ceremony with the **tassel on the right side of your cap**. During the procession into the Coliseum, and when coming to the stage to be hooded, **drape your hood neatly over your right arm**. ### Crossing The Stage Marshals will direct graduates when to stand and line up to cross the stage. Before crossing the stage, present your **name card** to **Associate Dean Grace Lee** to be read. There are **three members of the faculty hooding team**. During the hooding ceremony, the first member will take your hood, the second member will place the hood on your shoulders, and the third member will congratulate you. Please do not skip the faculty member who is currently hooding graduates to ask a different faculty member to hood you. After being hooded, you will receive your **diploma cover** from the Dean and have an opportunity for an **individual photo just off the stage**. Then return to your seat. ### Degree Conferral Once all graduates have been hooded and returned to their seats, Dr. Peter Mohler, University of Alabama President, will officially confer the appropriate degrees. Listen for instructions, stand when your degree is called, and remain standing until the conferral of that degree is complete. ### Honors, Cords, And Medals Recipients of the following honors and recognitions may pick up **cords and/or medals** from the Registrar when checking in for commencement on Sunday afternoon: - Harrison Award - Order of Samaritan - Pro Bono Service Award - Dean’s Community Service Award - Governmental Affairs Certificate Graduates are invited to wear those honors during the ceremony. --- After The Ceremony ------------------ A reception will be held **immediately following the ceremony** in the **Law School backyard**. **All graduates and guests are invited.** Rented regalia may also be returned after the ceremony. **Supe Store staff** will be set up in **Room A112** at the conclusion of the ceremony for graduates to return rented regalia. If regalia is not returned on Sunday after the ceremony, it must be returned to the **Supe Store across campus within the week**. Students who are borrowing a tam this year should return it to the **donation box following commencement**. Graduates who do not plan to keep their tam after graduation are encouraged to consider donating it to the **tam bank for future students**. A box will be placed next to the **column outside the café**, and tam donations may be placed there in the week following commencement. --- Commencement Speaker -------------------- **Gail Johnson** will serve as the Law School’s **2026 commencement speaker**. She is a **1982 graduate of Howard University**, where she majored in **Economics**, and a **1985 graduate of the UCLA School of Law**. While in law school, she was an active member and officer of the **Black Law Students Association**, taught **Street Law** to high school students, and participated in other law school programs. After graduating from UCLA, she served as a **judicial law clerk for the late Hon. June L. Green of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia** before joining the **U.S. Department of Justice in 1988 through its Attorney General’s Honors Program**. She currently works as a **Supervisory Trial Counsel in the Federal Tort Claims Act Section of the Civil Division**, where she specializes in litigation involving **complex medical malpractice** as well as **personal and property injuries**. She also manages the Department’s **nationwide administrative claims program** and supervises and designs content for her office’s **law student volunteer program**. The clerkship program counts many Alabama Law students among its alumni, including one this spring. For approximately **eighteen years**, Ms. Johnson has also given the **annual keynote address at the Bryan K. Fair BLSA Chapter welcome party**. She is also the namesake for the chapter’s **Gail K. Johnson Award**, which is presented annually to an Alabama lawyer who has provided outstanding service to the minority legal community.