12:00 pm Administrative Staff arrive at Law School
1:00 pm Staff and Marshals arrive at Coleman Coliseum
1:00 – 1:15 pm Graduates arrive at Coleman Coliseum
- Bring complete regalia – robe, hood, hat, & tassel – to coliseum.
- Enter coliseum through the student athlete entrance on the ground floor in the corner facing the baseball field. (See map.)
- Check-in at the Registrar table to receive name card, cords, and medals as appropriate.
- If needed, speak with Supe Store staff about any issues with regalia.
1:15 – 2:00 pm Guests arrive at Coleman Coliseum
- Guests enter coliseum through primary north or east entrances (not with graduates).
1:45 pm Graduates and Faculty line up for Procession
- Dean Brewbaker and the faculty will lead the procession in two lines.
- The class valedictorian, Harrison Award recipients, Order of Samaritan recipients, SBA President, and National Anthem singer will line up behind faculty in both lines.
- All other graduates will follow. Graduates are not required to line up in any specific order but should split evenly between the two lines.
- Graduates receiving only an LLM or JM degree should line up together in one line.
- Staff and 2L marshals will assist with the line-up process. Please follow their instructions.
2:00 pm Commencement Ceremony Begins
- Staff and 2L marshals will direct you where to go during the procession. Please do not skip seats. Each row should be filled.
- Enter the ceremony with your tassel on the right side of your cap.
- During the procession into the coliseum and as you come to the stage to be hooded, drape your hood neatly over your right arm.
- Marshals will direct you when to stand and line up to cross the stage.
- Before you cross the stage, present your name card to Associate Dean Grace Lee to be read.
- There are 3 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 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 below the stage. Then return to your seat.
- Once all graduates have been hooded and returned to their seats, the Dean will officially confer the appropriate degrees to all graduates. Please listen to his instructions, stand when your degree is called, and remain standing until the conferral of that degree is complete. (Student receiving both an LLM and JD will stand for both degrees to be conferred.)
Order of Ceremony
- Welcome William S. Brewbaker III
Dean and Professor of Law - National Anthem
Briana E. Murphy
Class of 2025 - SBA President’s Reflection
Brandon G. Marsh
2024-2025 Student Bar Association President
Class of 2025 - Valedictorian’s Address
Natalie Lynn Simon
Class of 2025 - Commencement Address
The Honorable Sarah H. Stewart
Chief Justice, Alabama Supreme Court - Conferring of Degrees
William S. Brewbaker III
Dean and Professor of Law - Hooding of Degree Candidates
- Bryan Fair
Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law - Russell Gold
Frank M. Bainbridge-Walter L. Mims Professor of Law - Benjamin McMichael
Associate Professor of Law and Director of
the Interdisciplinary Legal Studies Initiative
- Bryan Fair
- Adjournment
William S. Brewbaker III
Dean and Professor of Law