IU Kokomo Commencement will take place on Tuesday, May 11, 10 a.m. for undergrad and master’s degree students.

The only in-person Commencement activities will be the official campus ceremony for graduates. All other recognition events will be held virtually.

Planning ceremonies for early in the day gives us more flexibility in the event of severe weather.

IU Kokomo Pavilion, Rebecca St, Kokomo, IN 46902 

Graduates are invited to join virtually and celebrate from wherever they are.

Family and friends of graduates are invited to participate in the ceremony virtually by viewing the live stream of the ceremony here on Commencement day: commencement.iu.edu.

Even if infection rates in communities across Indiana decline, large gatherings on campuses increase the risk of infection for everyone. IU's campuses have been among the safest places in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic because of our robust mitigation testing program, which helps us quickly identify and address any increase in cases among students, faculty and staff. The best way to ensure a safe, in-person commencement celebration for our graduates is to operate within the same, controlled environment that has allowed IU to safely keep its campuses open since the fall.

IU makes all decisions in consultation with its Medical Response Team. In addition to limiting in-person ceremonies to only graduates, those who participate will be required to undergo COVID-19 testing. All IU public safety protocols, including wearing a mask and physically distancing, must be followed during Commencement.

All graduates must have two negative COVID-19 tests on file with the university in order to attend Commencement. 2020 graduates and others who aren't in the vicinity of an IU testing location can submit a result from a non-IU lab for their first test, but must complete a negative test at an IU testing site the day before the Commencement ceremony. If you receive your first test from a non-IU lab, you must submit your result by the submission deadline. The window for completing each test is dependent on what ceremony you are attending. For IU Kokomo commencement on Tuesday, May 11, the following dates apply:

• Test 1: May 5 - May 8
• Submission Deadline: May 10, 5:00 p.m.
• Test 2: May 9 - May 10

All currently enrolled students and active faculty and staff may schedule your first COVID-19 test through IU Mitigation Testing on campus. Select the voluntary asymptomatic testing option to schedule that test.
Currently Enrolled Students, Faculty, and Staff Schedule Your COVID-19 Test

At IU Kokomo, mitigation testing is offered at the Art Gallery in the Kelley Student Center, 2300 S. Washington St., Kokomo, IN, 46902. Testing will be available for graduates on Sunday, May 9, from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m, and on Monday, May 10, from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The second test is walk-in only; no appointment is necessary.

To schedule a COVID test in your Indiana county, you may visit:

https://scheduling.coronavirus.in.gov

Students who have submitted a sample or have scheduling questions regarding a sample should email C19@IU.EDU  

If your test result comes back as a positive sample, your ticket will be canceled and you will be invited to watch the live stream of your campus ceremony. Please be sure to follow all CDC guidance for individuals who test positive for COVID-19.

Consistent with IU's mitigation testing procedures, if you've reported your COVID-19 vaccination to IU and you receive your final dose at least two weeks prior to your graduation ceremony, you will be excluded from pre-Commencement COVID-19 testing.

To be exempt from mitigation testing prior to IU Kokomo's Commencement ceremony, participants must receive their final dose by Tuesday, April 27.

• Currently enrolled IU students, faculty, and staff should report their vaccination status through one.iu.edu and the COVID-19 Vaccine Reporting Form found there.
• Returning graduates planning to attend Commencement must confirm their vaccination status using the Returning Graduates Vaccine Report Form.   

IU is continually monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, and all plans are subject to change based on the public health outlook in each community. The university is committed to keeping its campuses safe, and will communicate directly with graduates if plans change.

All 2020 graduates who ordered and paid for official caps, tassels, gowns, hoods, and stoles will  receive the complimentary use of gowns (and hoods if you earned a graduate degree) to wear at Commencement. Bring your cap, tassel (and stole if you earned an undergraduate degree). You will be contacted by Herff Jones before Commencement to arrange the use of complementary apparel.

Only graduates will be permitted on campus. Tailgating, camping, and accompanying graduates to the ceremony site will be prohibited. Commencement 2021 will be attended by graduates only, and families and friends will be able to watch the ceremony online, at a link that will be provided before Commencement weekend. To help ensure everyone’s safety, gathering on the IU Kokomo campus by graduates’ families and friends is strongly discouraged.

Commencement is a cause for celebration, and we understand family and friends want to share in the excitement. Inviting guests to join virtually is the best way to allow a safe, in-person Commencement experience for our graduates.

The safety and well-being of the IU community led to this decision. It was made in close consultation with our Medical Response Team, which has guided IU's successful COVID-19 response for the past year. CDC guidelines recommend people avoid travel because of the continued pandemic across the U.S. and globe. Each IU campus is making its Commencement plans in coordination with county health departments, and restrictions on events and gatherings vary based on community. IU has been able to successfully manage COVID-19 cases and avoid large outbreaks through routine testing on all of its campuses, allowing us to keep our campuses open safely while some other universities had to suspend classes. Limiting in-person ceremonies to graduates only allows IU to use its proven public health strategy to ensure a safe commencement celebration.

All decisions about events on IU's campuses are based on recommendations from our Medical Response Team. IU will only allow up to 500 spectators for games played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. This includes immediate family members of participating players and staff, and a limited number of seats for vaccinated medical personnel and first responders in Monroe County.

IUPUI hosts its home games at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum through an agreement with the Indiana State Fair, which operates the venue and worked directly with the NCAA to determine the capacity for spectators at the tournament.

Commencement ceremonies involve thousands of graduates alone. The scale of these events makes hosting in-person ceremonies for graduates only, while guests join virtually, the best way to ensure the safety of our students and campuses. Travel to IU's campuses is strongly discouraged to minimize the risks of COVID-19.

One ticket per graduate.

To ensure the health and safety of our campuses and communities, graduates are invited to attend Commencement in person, while guests can join the celebrations online. The ceremony will be streamed live, and will also be available to watch after the event.

Only graduates will be permitted to enter the Commencement venues. Tailgating, camping and accompanying graduates to the ceremony site is prohibited. To help ensure everyone's safety, travel to IU campuses by graduates' family and friends is strongly discouraged.

Tickets are free for all ceremonies. 

Tuesday, May 4th by 5 p.m.

All ceremonies are general admission and graduates will be directed to seats when they arrive. We are unable to guarantee a student may sit next to someone of his/her preference.  

For graduate ceremonies at IU Bloomington and IUPUI, students will indicate if they are receiving their master’s or doctoral degree. Students will sit in designated areas based on the degree they are earning.  Doctoral degree graduates will be seated by degree-granting school.

Master’s and undergraduate students at all campuses will be randomly assigned seats and will not be seated next to their school colleagues. 

Your ticket indicates the time you are to arrive to the ceremony location. 

If you're outside of the U.S., we welcome you and your loved ones to enjoy the celebration virtually. Should you wish to travel to the U.S. solely for the purpose of attending Commencement and you need to apply for a tourist visa, there are several important factors to consider:

• Many U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide have been closed, or remain closed due to the pandemic. Because of that, visa wait times for tourists may be very long.
• To apply for a tourist visa, we suggest that you carry evidence of your intention to attend Commencement (obtained on the IU commencement website by ordering a free ticket for the program), as well as standard documents required for a tourist visa (including, but not limited to your itinerary, evidence of financial support, documentation your residence abroad). The Consulate in your region will have further details.
• Like all graduates, you will be subject to all vaccine or COVID-19 testing requirements.
• Travel restrictions are subject to change at any time.
• Please contact the IUPUI Office of International Affairs for additional information.

All guests, including those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine, are invited to celebrate Commencement virtually. The best way to ensure a safe, in-person Commencement celebration for our graduates is to operate within the same, controlled environment that has allowed IU to safely keep its campuses open since the fall.

All graduates who attend in-person Commencement, including those who've been vaccinated, must practice physical distancing and wear a mask. As with all vaccines, being vaccinated does not provide 100% perfect protection. Additionally, it is not yet known exactly how long COVID-19 vaccine protection lasts. This means that even once you are vaccinated, you could still be capable of spreading the virus to others.

All graduates must have two negative COVID-19 tests on file with the university in order to attend Commencement. The first required test must be completed within 3-6 days of your Commencement date and can be completed outside of IU, which you will then need to report to us. However, the second required test must be completed 1-2 days before your Commencement date and must be an IU saliva test at the campus in which you are attending Commencement. You will have these results back to you before the morning of your ceremony.

For the first test, past graduates who are not currently affiliated with Indiana University must seek a COVID-19 test themselves and submit their negative test results online. Past graduates may not test at an Indiana University mitigation site for the first test.

All graduates, regardless of affiliation, are required to provide a second test at their graduating campus's mitigation site.

Faculty and staff participating in Commencement will follow the same testing protocols.

Past Graduates Submit Your Test Results

Everyone for whom the vaccines are currently authorized is now eligible to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine in Indiana. The more people we get vaccinated, the better our chances of keeping everyone we love safe. Not to mention getting back to the things we love. COVID-19 vaccines are the best protection we have against the virus, so take your shot now.

Take Your Shot Now

You may email any questions to c19@iu.edu.

If you have tested positive between 11-90 days out from the Commencement ceremony date, you can file an exemption (vaccine submission self-reporting form) for any tests. As long as the positive test comes at least 11 days before the Commencement ceremony date, you will still be allowed to attend Commencement.

For IU Kokomo participants, this means the positive test must have occurred between Wednesday, February 10 and Friday, April 30.

Report Your Positive Result Through IU's Self Report Form
2019 / 2020 Graduates Report Form