A late-May weekend with two big events

Cal Poly Pomona holds its commencement once a year, outdoors in the University Quad, as a run of ceremonies by college over a Friday to Sunday in late May. The academic calendar fixes the window, shown in the table above; which college is on which day comes later, and the university says the schedule will be published by December.

The same weekend brought a complication last round. The Fairplex, a few miles up the road, was hosting the L.A. County Fair, and Cal Poly Pomona warned families that fair traffic would affect parking. Its advice was to arrive one to two hours before the ceremony, to follow the traffic staff to the open lots, and to allow an hour to get away afterwards.

Tickets and bags, as they worked last round

Every guest aged two and older needed a ticket for every ceremony, kept on a phone or printed. Ticket entry opened an hour before each ceremony, guests went through security screening, and seating inside was first come, first served, with nothing reserved. Accessible seating was marked throughout, for the guest and one companion.

Bags had to be clear, vinyl or plastic, no larger than 12 by 12 by 6 inches and without hidden inner pockets. The only exceptions were purses or wallets up to 6 by 6 inches and medically necessary items, including diaper bags. Everything else went back to the car. Food, drink, flowers and graduation gifts were on sale at the venue, so there is no need to carry them in.

Ceremonies generally run an hour and a half to two hours; the largest are Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Engineering and Business. Guests are asked to stay to the end. Livestream links are posted for anyone who cannot attend, and the university asks that pets stay at home, given the crowds, the heat and the noise.

Parking

Last round parking on campus was free for the whole commencement weekend. General parking was in Lots F and M, and accessible parking in Lots C and M. With an outdoor venue and a fair next door, arriving early is the most useful thing a family can do.

Where to sleep

Only two hotels are close. On West Temple Avenue, the La Quinta Inn & Suites, with 162 rooms, and the DoubleTree by Hilton, with 131, are about six or seven minutes from campus by road. Beyond them, Diamond Bar, West Covina and San Dimas have a string of chain hotels around the freeways, twelve to fifteen minutes away, such as the Ayres Suites in Diamond Bar and the Hampton Inn in West Covina. Claremont’s village is about seventeen minutes, Ontario airport about half an hour, and downtown Los Angeles around forty minutes with clear roads.

We grade the pressure as elevated. The whole year’s graduates walk in three days, only two hotels are nearby, and last round a county fair shared the weekend. That is our judgement from the schedule and the supply, not a measured count of free rooms, which we have not taken around Pomona. Hold a cancellable room across the weekend now, and keep the night before your graduate’s ceremony once the schedule is out.