1,100 UH Manoa students may participate in Dec. 19 Commencement Exercise at the Stan Sheriff Center

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Diane Chang, (808) 956-0391
Director of Communications, Chancellor's Office
Shawn Nakamoto, (808) 956-0990
Senior Director of Communications and Marketing, Chancellor's Office
Posted: Dec 10, 2015


Graduates from the 2014 Mid-Year Commencement at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Graduates from the 2014 Mid-Year Commencement at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Celebrating graduation UH Manoa style.  UH Foundation photo.
Celebrating graduation UH Manoa style. UH Foundation photo.

UH Mānoa will hold its 2015 Mid-Year Commencement Exercise on Saturday, December 19, in the Stan Sheriff Center on Lower Campus from 9 a.m. to noon.  The student procession will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the program begins at 9 a.m.  Approximately 1,100 candidates for certificates, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorates are registered to participate in the ceremony.

Keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient is Robert K. Masuda, retired YMCA executive and public servant.  Student speaker is Elizabeth Pualani Armstrong, candidate for a Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education and Special Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Attendees should be aware of expected traffic congestion upon entering and exiting Lower Campus.  Free parking is available in the Lower Campus Parking Structure, which opens at 5 a.m.  Please approach the campus with caution, and arrive early to avoid delays, if possible.

To view a live webcast of the Commencement ceremony, and for more information, please visit manoa.hawaii.edu/commencement.  The webcast will be viewable on the website until May 2016.

ENTERING AND SEATING/H-ZONE STORE

Doors to the Stan Sheriff Center will open at 7:45 a.m.  The ceremony is free and open to the public. No tickets are issued, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.  Attendees are urged to arrive early, as the doors to the Center will be closed when the arena reaches maximum capacity.

Balloons and strollers are not allowed inside the Stan Sheriff Center.

Overflow seating for the ceremony will be available in the Les Murakami Stadium.  The ceremony will be shown live on the Stadium screen.  Food will be available for purchase at concession stands in the Stadium.

The H-Zone store will be open at the Stan Sheriff Center from 9 a.m. until the end of the ceremony.  A 10% discount is available during Saturday’s special hours of operation.

PARKING/CARPOOLING

Campus parking is free.  Vehicles with two or more people will be given priority parking status on the first floor of the Lower Campus Parking Structure, while space is available.  Disability accessible parking stalls are located on the third-floor Diamond Head side of the Parking Structure, with additional stalls distributed on each floor on the ʻEwa side of the Parking Structure and throughout lots on the main campus.  For disability access information, call the Mānoa Commencement Hotline at (808) 956-GRAD.

VIP Parking for graduates is available on the UH Lab School lawn on the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street, with the entrance on Dole Street.  Carpooling graduates (3 or more graduates in a vehicle) and other non-graduates in the same vehicle will receive a free trolley ride to and from the Stan Sheriff Center, with refreshments served at a special reception hosted by the UH Alumni Association at the Athletic Complex in Studio 3.  VIP Parking for graduates will open at 6 a.m. and is available until capacity is reached.  

A parking shuttle service will be provided from Upper Campus (main campus) to the Stan Sheriff Center on Lower Campus.  Shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible and run a continuous route from the Biomedical Science Building to Krauss Circle, where riders may exit and walk to lower campus at the traffic light and crosswalk located between the law school library and law school.

All stops along its route will be marked with RAINBOW SHUTTLE STOP signs.  Stops along the shuttle route are:

•           Biomedical Science Building

•           Moore Hall

•           Kennedy Theatre

•           Physical Science Building

•           Art Building

•           Krauss Circle

•           Kuykendall Hall

•           Watanabe Hall

•           Jefferson Hall

•           Center for Korean Studies

•           Biomedical Science Building

•           Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies

For shuttle return trips throughout Upper Campus (main campus), passengers may board the shuttles at Krauss Circle and will be dropped off at stops along the way.

CONGRATULATING THE GRADUATES/PURCHASING LEI

After the ceremony, guests may meet graduates to bestow their congratulations and lei near the appropriate alphabetical signs on the Clarence T.C. Ching Field (last names A-N) and the Les Murakami Stadium field (last names 0-Z).  Alphabet signs will be posted and maps will be available in the Commencement program.

Authorized lei vendors will be set up within Ching Field on the pool side of the facility.

For more information, visit: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/commencement/