Information for Family and Friends

Graduates are encouraged to invite family and friends to celebrate this accomplishment with them.

Announcements

Graduate products are available for purchase through the UMMC Bookstore. Invitations are available online only. Click here to order.

Location

Commencement is held at the Mississippi Coliseum, 1207 Mississippi St., Jackson, MS 39202. Phone: (601) 961-4000. Absolutely no balloons or party items are allowed inside the Coliseum.

Graduation guests will be seated in the permanent seating which surrounds the arena floor. All guests should be in their seats by 9:50 a.m. Only degree candidates and faculty are seated on the arena floor. Elevators are located to the right when you enter through the main doors on the north side, Mississippi Street entrance – one just inside the front door and one a little further down the hall.

Marked seating for handicapped persons and one visitor is very limited. Please encourage your friends or family members who are unable to climb stairs or who use a wheelchair to come early. The Coliseum does not provide wheelchairs. A sign language interpreter and reserved seating for hearing impaired will be available.

Lodging

Several lodging venues are available in close proximity to the Mississippi Coliseum.

Event

The Commencement ceremony begins promptly at 10 a.m. and should end shortly after 12 p.m. Candidate line up is as follows: Nursing, School of Health Related Professions, School of Dentistry, School of Population Health, School of Medicine, and School of Graduate Studies.

Photographs

A commercial photographer will be taking photos of each graduate as they receive their diploma and/or hood. A free color proof will be mailed approximately two weeks after graduation to the graduate’s address on file. This address can be updated by the student in Workday.

Additionally, from 7-9 a.m. ONLY, the photographer will be set up on the second floor concourse from the north entrance, to take studio prints of graduates (which can include family or friends). No reservations will be accepted. This is first come, first served only. All photos will end promptly at 9 a.m.

News releases

The Office of Enrollment Management provides to the Office of Communications and Marketing an electronic spreadsheet listing all graduates, their degrees conferred and their cities of residence. The Office of Communications and Marketing disseminates that spreadsheet, and a link to photographs of students who chose to have them taken prior to Commencement, to media via a news release on Commencement day. Graduates or their families wanting announcements in their local media outlet should contact the chosen news organization directly.