Ivy Cutting

Getting There

Please refer to the directions and parking page for more information.

Guest Arrival

Guests are welcome to start arriving any time after 9 a.m. Unless otherwise marked, all seating is available.

Student Line-Up

Graduates should line up at 9:45 a.m. on the Fifth Avenue Streetscape (between Marston and Weter). See the undergraduate instructions page for more information.

Livestream

The ceremony will be recorded for livestreaming purposes and will be available for viewing on the livestreaming page. The recording of the ceremony will also be posted on this page, but may not be available until a week or so afterward. No other videographers are allowed in any aisle or near the platform.

Rain Plan

A rain plan will go into effect if there is a forecast for severe weather, including heavy rain and/or thunder and lightning. Students will receive a notification if the rain plan is put into action. Please note that students will be issued only up to four rain plan tickets for guest entrance into Royal Brougham Pavilion. (If the ceremony is held outdoors, no tickets are required.)

Photography

You are free to take photographs and video of this beautiful ceremony. We respectfully ask you to remain inside the designated seating areas, and not venture out into the aisles and pathways.

ADA Seating

For guests using a wheelchair or walker, or who need a seat close to the sidewalk, please contact graduationinfo@spu.edu. We can make arrangements for a few companion seats as well.

ADA Drop-Off

We recommend pulling into the Ross parking lot, directly behind Subway (off of 3^rd Ave. W.) to drop off your guests before parking your car.

Sign Interpretation

There will be sign interpretation at Ivy Cutting. If you have a guest that needs to be seated close to the interpreter, please contact graduationinfo@spu.edu.

Food & Beverages

A number of campus dining options, selling hot beverages, snacks, and meals, will be open.

Bookstore

The SPU Bookstore will be open, 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. They will have any remaining regalia (caps, gowns, and tassels) available for purchase.

We are pleased to have SPU’s Professor of Moral and Historical Theology Dr. Richard Steele as our speaker for 2023’s Ivy Cutting ceremony. Read more. 

The Rain Plan affects those ceremonies that take place outdoors on campus (Ivy Cutting and Graduate Commencement). All other ceremonies are indoors (including Undergraduate Commencement at T-Mobile Park) and are unaffected by the Rain Plan.

The Rain Plan goes into effect only if there is a forecast for severe weather, including heavy rain and/or thunder and lightning. With such a forecast, SPU will send a Rain Plan Notice, via email, to all registered graduating students, as well as faculty and staff. If you do not receive this notice, you can assume the ceremonies will take place, as planned, outdoors. Please, however, plan for the weather. The ceremonies will take place outdoors even in light rain.

Rain Plan Location

Royal Brougham Pavilion
3414 Third Avenue West
Seattle Pacific University

Rain Plan Tickets

• If the Rain Plan goes into effect, all graduating undergraduate students will receive four electronic Rain Plan tickets to distribute to their family members/guests.
• Graduating students do not need tickets for themselves. 
• Students are encouraged to give away extra tickets to other students who may need them.
• Unfortunately, due to space constraints, there are no extra tickets to distribute.

Student Instructions

• Please arrive by 9:30 a.m. for line-up. Graduating students in regalia do not need a ticket to enter.
• Enter at northwest corner (near crew area) or southwest corner (near weight room) of Royal Brougham and proceed to the Lower Gymnasium and hallways to line up. (Note that any students needing ADA accommodations can use the elevator to go downstairs or can line up in front of the snack stand on the main level to join the student processional.)
• Line up close to the walls, so as to allow people to pass through, as necessary.
• Await instructions from staff members.
• (NOTE: Please refrain from wearing high-heeled shoes, as they are not allowed in the Lower Gymnasium.)

Family Member/Guest Instructions

• Doors will open at 10 a.m. You must have a “rain plan” ticket, issued by your graduating student, to enter the building.
• If you have a Rain Plan Ticket, enter through the main doors on the west side of Royal Brougham and proceed into the Gymnasium for general seating. (Note that any guests needing ADA accommodations can enter at the southwest corner of the building and use the elevator to the Gymnasium on the main level. There will be some ADA seating reserved.)
• If you do not have a Rain Plan Ticket, you may view a live-stream of the ceremony at nearby campus locations:
  • Otto Miller Hall 109
  • Eaton Hall 112
• Live-streaming is also available on any internet-connected device.
• Staff members will be available to assist you and answer any questions.

Faculty Instructions

• Please arrive at Royal Brougham by 9:30 a.m. for line-up. Faculty in regalia do not need a ticket to enter.
• Enter at southwest corner of Royal Brougham and proceed upstairs to line up in the Hendricks Falcon Club. (Note that any faculty needing extra assistance can use the elevator to go up to the Hendricks Falcon Club or can line up behind the platform party in front of the snack stand on the main level to join the faculty processional.)
• Await instructions from the faculty marshals. Faculty will process in two lines.

Platform Party Instructions

• Please arrive at Royal Brougham by 9:30 a.m. for line-up. Platform party members in regalia do not need a ticket to enter.
• Enter at southwest corner of Royal Brougham and proceed upstairs to the main level to line up in front of the snack stand. (Note that any platform party members needing extra assistance can use the elevator to go up to the main floor.)
• Await instructions from the presiding marshal.