2025 Graduation Events

Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen and Brewery, 520 2nd St. SE, Charlottesville, VA 22902

• 3 - 5 p.m. MPP Graduates and guests 
• 6 - 8 p.m. BA Graduates and guests 

UVA Lawn Ceremony, The Lawn at UVA

• Batten BA and MPP graduates will attend UVA’s procession on the Lawn and graduation ceremony that follows.
• *6 tickets will be provided per graduate by the Office of Major Events.

Batten School Graduation Ceremony, The Paramount Theater, 215 E Main St., downtown Charlottesville

• BA Graduation Ceremony: 3 - 4 p.m.
• Batten BA graduates and their guests will gather at The Paramount Theater for a Graduation School Ceremony featuring processional, opening remarks, student remarks, degree presentations, and recessional. Celebrate your accomplishments with Batten faculty and staff. Note: Batten BA graduates will begin lining up at 2:30pm.

• MPP Graduation Ceremony: 6 - 7 p.m.
• Batten MPP graduates and their guests will gather at The Paramount Theater for a Graduation School Ceremony featuring processional, opening remarks, student remarks, degree presentations, and recessional. Celebrate your accomplishments with Batten faculty and staff. Note: Batten MPP graduates will begin lining up at 5:30pm.

*6 tickets will be provided per graduate. Tickets should be picked up at the Batten Grad Fair on March 17.

Please use this link to indicate any special needs, including dietary restrictions, that you or your guests might have if they are attending Batten's School Graduation Ceremony.

Click here for all other related information about the University-wide Lawn ceremony and resources. For those wishing to view the Lawn ceremony remotely, either at indoor locations across Grounds or via live stream, click here.

Saturday Lawn Ceremony: As you can imagine, parking is tricky during Finals Weekend. This website will show you the various options available around Grounds. 

Saturday Batten School Ceremonies: Please follow the links below to learn more about parking options that are in close proximity to the Paramount Theater, which is where both Batten undergraduate and graduate students' School Ceremony will take place. Students or guests who have mobility needs should click here. 

Downtown Charlottesville Parking Options

Graduates who did not meet with Dean Rockwell during Batten’s Graduation Fair on March 17 should complete this form to share their names as they (1) would like them printed in the Batten School Graduation Ceremony program and (2) pronounced during the ceremony. Please help us get your names perfect!

We want you to remember your graduation day for years to come! Please help us ensure that we pronounce your name correctly. Complete this link with the phonetic pronunciation of your name. 

For your actual diplomas, the deadline to correct or update your name as it will appear on your diploma is May 1, 2025. Complete the “SIS Primary Name Update” form on UREG's website. 

Attire for the entire weekend for graduates and their guests is business casual—or whatever will allow you to stay cool and comfortable, particularly while wearing black graduation gowns. Jackets and ties are welcome but not required. Given the amount of walking on grass or historic brick, spiky heels are not advisable!

Because students will be asked to unzip their gowns before entering the Lawn for security purposes for the UVA ceremony, graduates should be fully clothed. Graduates should wear their regalia to both the Lawn and the Batten School's events at the The Paramount Theater in Charlottesville.

While there are three different UVA-wide weather contingencies, know that if something dramatic happens, we will email you with timely updates and make updates to our website. You also can check UVA’s homepage or call the weather hotline at 924-SNOW. In short, unless the weather is quite extreme, events will take place on the Lawn and at the Paramount Theater as scheduled.

Stay tuned to your email for last-minute changes—changes to our Batten events will NOT be posted on the greater UVA website or hotline, but will be sent to students via email and posted at batten.virginia.edu.

Batten has a professional photographer to capture Batten’s Saturday evening events, including all-class/cohort photos, which will be taken immediately after our Batten Graduation Ceremony. These photos will be available for download and/or purchase; we will send you a link when the proofs are available online for your review. Your guests are, of course, welcome to take photos of the events as well.

There will be security checks/metal detectors at the Lawn ceremony for EVERYONE participating in graduation–-from guests to the graduates themselves—with the “clear bag policy” in effect. The greater UVA administration has asked us to let students know that any unauthorized items—including alcohol—will be confiscated. Given related safety concerns, security officials are instructed to remove visibly intoxicated students from all graduation processionals. For more information on UVA’s graduation-related security policies, including specifically prohibited and permitted items, click here.

Tickets

Batten graduates will receive 6 guest tickets to their Batten School Graduation Ceremony at the Paramount Theater on Saturday, May 17. Graduates MUST attend the Batten Grad Fair on Monday, May 17 from 12 - 2 p.m. to acquire Batten School Ceremony tickets. 

Graduates will receive communication from the Office of Major Events with details on acquiring guest tickets for UVA's Lawn Ceremony. More information can be found here.

Regalia

Batten undergraduate and graduate students who were unable to pick up their regalia during the UVA Bookstore Grad Fests, should send an email to gradinfo@virginia.edu and request to pick up their cap and gown. They will need to include their computing ID, height, and when they'd like to pick up their regalia. Request must be made two days prior to the anticpated pick up date.