Use the following steps to make sure you are ready for Commencement!

For additional questions, the Tabor College Registrar’s Office can be reached by email, at registrar@drordi.com, or by phone, at 620-947-3121 (ext. 1041). See the menu below to skip to a section of the checklist.

Tabor College graduates at Commencement 2023

Start Your Checklist
Commencement Program
Academic Honors
Attending Commencement
Pre-Ceremony Arrival
Regalia
Walking Across the Stage
Other Information

Start Your Checklist

1. Purchase your regalia

  • Visit the JayShop in the Student Center (link JayShop & Student Center to campus map)

2. Invitations

  • Personal invitations need to either be purchased individually or you can visit Baker Bros. Printing Co. at 113 South Main Street in Hillsboro.

3. Reserve your Commencement tickets

  • All undergraduate students will be required to reserve tickets for their friends and families to attend.
    • Tickets can only be reserved by graduates at cusj.drordi.com/tickets beginning March 22, 2024.
    • Ticket reservations will close on April 22, 2024.
  • A minimum of five tickets will be available to each student if a reservation is made.
    • More tickets may be available at a later date.
  • Two tickets will be made available if no reservation is made by the deadline date.
  • There will be a non-ticketed livestream available in the Franz Family Heritage Lobby of the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts.

4. Special Accommodations

  • Graduates need to inform the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts Box Office of any special accommodations for visiting family members. This allows proper arrangements to be made on time. Please email boxoffice@drordi.com to specify these requests. 

114th Commencement of Tabor College

Tabor College Commencement

Saturday, May 4, 2024
Richert Auditorium of the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts
400 S. Jefferson
Hillsboro, KS, 67063

Undergraduate ceremony: 10 a.m.
(No entry after 10:05 a.m.)
Graduate ceremony: 2 p.m.

How do I make sure my name is included in the program?

  • Students must submit their Intent to Graduate Application by March 1, 2024, to be included in the Commencement Program.
  • Students will need to meet with the Registrar to make sure all hours needed for graduation have been fulfilled and must pass all courses with a GPA of 2.0 or higher.
    • If all courses have not been completed by graduation, arrangements for completion must be made with the Registrar and Academic Dean’s office. 
  • Tabor College reserves the right to remove a student from Commencement exercises for disciplinary reasons.  Participation in the commencement exercise is defined as a privilege, not a right.
  • The program is not an official list of confirmed graduates for the ceremony. Students listed in the program are candidates for degrees in the current academic year.
  • Students’ names are read during the university commencement ceremony as they appear on the graduation name card provided.

Academic Honors

  • Degrees are conferred with distinction upon undergraduate students who have shown exceptional scholarship in their cumulative and Tabor College grade point averages.
  • Candidates for degrees and college honors have been tentatively determined based on the work completed through the semester before the student’s graduating semester.  
  • Honors are calculated on a minimum of 56 hours in residence.

Summa Cum Laude: 3.85-4.0
Magna Cum Laude: 3.70-3.849
Cum Laude: 3.50-3.699

Tabor 2022 Commencement diplomas
Tabor 2022 Commencement diplomas

Guests Attending Commencement

We’ve compiled helpful information for faculty, staff, and guests who plan to attend in person. You’re welcome to skip ahead to jump directly to a certain section.

Guests

Tabor College Commencement celebration
  • All undergraduate students will be required to reserve tickets for their friends and families to attend.
    • Tickets can only be reserved by graduates at cusj.drordi.com/tickets. Reservations will open on March 22, 2024.
    • Ticket reservations will close on April 22, 2024.
  • Five tickets will be made available to each student.
    • More tickets may be available at a later date.
  • Two tickets will be made available if no reservation is made by the deadline date.
  • There will be a non-ticketed livestream available in the Franz Family Heritage Lobby of the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts.
  • No tickets are required for the Graduate & Online ceremony. Please join your graduate in support of their special day!

Pre-Ceremony Arrival

Undergraduate

Tabor College Commencement
Tabor College Commencement
  • Check-in time for graduates is 9 a.m.
    • Graduates should check in to the chapel on the main floor of the H.W. Lohrenz Administration Building.
  • Please arrive dressed appropriately for the ceremony, including a cap, gown, and tassel.
  • Extra tassels will be available if you are missing yours.
  • Your prompt arrival for check-in and lining up will help ensure the event runs smoothly for you and other graduates.
    • NOTE: Graduates will remain in the same lineup for the recessional after the ceremony.
  • The processional will begin promptly at 10 a.m.
  • If there is inclement weather, undergraduate students will check in to room 215 on the second floor of the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts.  The procession from the Lohrenz will not take place; rather, the students will line up behind the faculty in the Regier Atrium.
  • Please do not bring personal valuables as there will be no way to secure them.  Bring only what you intend to carry with you for the duration of the ceremony.

Graduate & Online

  • Check-in time for graduates is 1:15 p.m.
    • Graduates will check in to Room 215 on the second floor of the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts.
  • Please arrive dressed appropriately for the ceremony, including a cap, gown, and hood.
  • Program medals will be distributed upon arrival.
  • NOTE: Graduates will remain in the same lineup for the recessional after the ceremony.
  • Your prompt arrival for check-in and lining will help ensure that the event runs smoothly for you and other graduates. 
  • The ceremony will begin promptly at 2 p.m.
  • Please do not bring personal valuables as there will be no way to secure them.  Bring only what you intend to carry with you for the duration of the ceremony.

Regalia

Information on purchasing regalia can be found by contacting the JayShop in the Student Center or through program directors for master’s students.

Tabor College regalia

Regalia for Bachelor Degree Candidates

  • Bachelor degree candidates should purchase a bachelor’s gown, mortarboard cap, and tassel.
  • Your tassel should be worn on the right side of your mortarboard until you are told to move it to the left by the Provost after all graduates have been recognized.

Regalia for Master Degree Candidates

  • Master degree candidates should purchase a master’s gown, mortarboard cap, master’s hood (by color), and tassel.
  • Your tassel should be worn on the left side of your mortarboard as you have already received a degree. Your tassel will stay and not be moved. 
  • You will process with your hood draped over your arm.
    • You will carry it as such to the stage where your hood will be placed on you by your program director as you walk across the stage.

Walking Across the Stage

Undergraduates

Tabor College masters
  • Once your name is called, you will walk to the other side of the stage where the faculty chair will put cords on you, if appropriate.
  • The president will then reach out to shake your hand and give you your diploma cover. 
  • Once you receive your diploma cover, continue exiting off side stage, across the hall to the photo area where your official graduate photograph will be taken.  Then follow the guides back to the auditorium door where you will be released back to your seat when appropriate.  

Graduate

  • Once your name is called, you will walk to center stage where you will pause in front of the platform facing the auditorium. 
  • You will be hooded by your program director and an assistant. 
  • You will then proceed to receive your diploma cover and shake the hand of the president. 
  • Once you receive your diploma cover, continue exiting off side stage, across the hall to the photo area where your official graduate photograph will be taken. Then follow the guides back to the auditorium door where you will be released back to your seat when appropriate.  

Other Information

Diplomas

  • Diplomas will be ready for pick-up or mailed to students when all academic and financial requirements are met and degrees have been verified.
  • Please allow up to four weeks for the final transcript to reflect degree conferral.

Photography

  • Graduates will be photographed professionally as they walk across the stage and again after they have received their diploma just off the stage. 
  • All images will be available within a week after graduation by visiting Tabor College Flickr. All photographs will be able to be downloaded for print at no charge.
  • Families may take photographs in the Richert Auditorium behind the stanchioned areas.