The doctoral commencement will be held at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. While there are no bag restrictions in effect, we strongly encourage you to leave backpacks and other bulky items in your vehicle.
All guests, including infants, must have a valid ticket to enter the doctoral commencement. Each ticket has a unique barcode and can only be used once.
Police officers from several organizations, including University of Maryland, College Park, will be present to direct traffic and provide security for our ceremonies. Please cooperate with commencement staff and uniformed officers during any required security checks or in the event of an emergency. Report suspicious activity to a police officer immediately.
All bags are subject to search.
Only the following types of bags will be allowed into the Xfinity Center:
No other bags can be brought into the Xfinity Center. The list of unauthorized items includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Please leave unauthorized bags in your vehicle; UMGC cannot store or safeguard items that are not permitted into the Xfinity Center.
Your safety and security are vitally important to us. In addition to verifying tickets, uniformed staff will use a variety of security measures to check everyone who enters our Xfinity Center ceremonies.
You will be scanned by a hand-held metal detector, and bags that meet the size limit will be opened and inspected. (This procedure will be repeated if you exit and then re-enter the building.) Please note that most bags will NOT be allowed in the Xfinity Center. (See Bag Policy above for details.)
All guests, including infants, must have a valid ticket to enter the Xfinity Center. Each ticket has a unique barcode and can only be used once.
At the end of the ceremony, graduates will be ushered from the floor of the Xfinity Center and won't be able to walk directly into the stands. You should arrange ahead of time where to meet after the ceremony. We suggest picking a spot outside one of the main entrance gates. Large colored balloon towers are placed outside of each gate and serve as convenient meeting spots.
Please do not bring balloons to commencement. We do not sell balloons at the event, and they are not allowed inside the Xfinity Center. Balloons can contain dangerous gases and are prohibited by the fire code.