Commencement Guests

Tickets

Any person entering the arena must present a ticket for admittance, including all children and guests with disability seating requests. Graduates can order tickets online.  

The arena will open one hour prior to each ceremony.

SECURITY MEASURES

Every guest entering the facility must have an admission ticket. For the safety and security of everyone, please be aware that all bags are subject to inspection prior to admittance. Small purses are permitted once checked by security personnel. However, items such as bags, backpacks, briefcases, laptop computers and tablets, balloons, signs, banners, strollers, baby carriers, baby car seats, and wrapped packages of any kind are prohibited. Other than bottled water, food and beverages are prohibited. Anyone carrying prohibited items will be turned away. There is no secure storage for personal belongings at the O’Keefe Complex, so please plan accordingly.

Event Admission Policy

All on-campus activities are subject to the Salem State University health and safety protocols. We ask that individuals, to the best of their ability and knowledge, be free from infectious disease(s) when attending in person events on campus, including COVID-19, and/or wear a mask to prevent spreading illness to others.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance in keeping our community safe and healthy. Please be aware that protocols may be adjusted due to changing public health circumstances.

NOTE:

All family members and guests must have a valid bar-coded ticket to be admitted to the O’Keefe Sports Complex, including all children and guests with disability seating requests. There will be no exceptions. The arena will open one hour prior to each ceremony.  

• Please be aware that all bags are subject to inspection prior to admittance.
• Any guest who arrives once the ceremony is in progress will have restricted seating options and may be directed to the upper level of the arena. 
• To exit the arena, all guests must present their ticket. Guests must show the same ticket for re-entry.  
• Regardless of the weather, guests are strongly encouraged to wear coats and dress in layers as the main garage doors will remain open during the ceremonies to increase air flow in the arena. 

Printing or Displaying Your Commencement Ticket

• Tickets are non-replaceable if lost or stolen and should be handled as you would any other valuable or cash. In addition, the sale of commencement tickets is prohibited.
• Tickets can be scanned from smart phones or printed out individually.  
• For best results when printing tickets, print on white paper; in the original size of the ticket; with only one ticket on each 8.5” x 11” piece of paper; and use sufficient toner to avoid delays in scanning your tickets. If you try to shrink/enlarge the ticket size the barcode will not scan at the door and it will delay your entry to the venue.
• The unique bar code on each ticket allows only one entry to the event. The first copy of an e-ticket (if there are multiple copies made) to arrive at the event will gain entry after scanning and validation. If additional copies of a ticket are presented, that individual will be denied entry.

Satellite Viewing

During commencement ceremonies, a non-ticketed, family friendly satellite viewing location will be available on nearby North Campus. Limited seating is available in air-conditioned Veterans Hall in the Ellison Campus Center, the satellite viewing area. Guests can see students graduate through the same big screen image that’s shown in the O’Keefe arena. After students cross the stage, guests from satellite seating can meet graduates on the athletic field where the recessional ends, even before guests in the arena are able to exit the building. Watching from home? A link to our livestream will be available closer to the commencement date.

Parking

Degree candidates and guests with commencement tickets will be able to park in all available university parking lots. Prior to coming to the ceremony, please review the commencement parking map.

Ceremony Support

Disability Accommodations

Individuals needing accommodations for accessibility, such as sign language interpreters, wheelchair access, ground level seating, will be able to request this service through the ticket reservation process. For more information, contact commencement-access@salemstate.edu or 978.542.6217 (TTY: 978.542.7146) (video phone: 978.910.0167) or visit the Frederick E. Berry Library and Learning Commons, room G20, no later than Monday, April 28, 2025.

Language Support - Hablamos español!! Falamos português!!

During the ceremonies, staff who speak Spanish and Portuguese will be available to welcome guests and provide information and directions in these languages. Staff will be wearing buttons to make themselves visible and accessible to guests who could use language support. Please email us to let us know that members of your party would like language assistance at the ceremony, so that we may prepare staffing accordingly. Advise your guests to look for the buttons these staff members will be wearing when they arrive. The ceremony program is also printed in English and Spanish.

Decorum

We ask for your cooperation before, during and after the ceremony in helping us to present a program to your family and friends of which we can all be proud. Please remain in your seats until all graduates have received their diplomas and the ceremony is concluded.

Salem State University is a tobacco-free campus.

Photography

A commercial photographer with a special high-speed camera will take two pictures of each student, 1) posed, prior to them crossing the stage, and 2) on the stage with the University President or Provost. A few weeks prior to commencement, degree candidates will receive detailed information from the photographer. For more information, contact Grad Images, the professional photographer on site, at 800.261.2576, online at www.gradimages.com, or by email at ecc.giservice@gradimages.net with any questions. After the ceremony, photographers will also move among the guests and graduates to take candid photographs.

No private photographers will be allowed on the floor or near the stage.

Social Media

Share your graduation excitement – join the conversation at #SalemState25!

Bookstore

Commencement flowers and t-shirts may be ordered through the university bookstore. All online orders will be available for pickup on site the day of the graduation. To retrieve your order, please stop by our booth located conveniently at the entrance to the graduation before the ceremony begins. Order gifts for graduation.