The ceremony families attend is the diploma ceremony

Case Western’s commencement has two layers, and only one of them is open to families.

It begins mid-week with the University Convocation, a celebration of the whole graduating class across every school. It is for students, faculty and staff. Guests are not admitted, and the university’s suggestion is to watch the livestream.

What follows, from Friday to Sunday, are the school diploma ceremonies, and these are the ones to travel for. Each school holds its own: Law, Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing, the Mandel School, Weatherhead, the School of Graduate Studies, and two undergraduate ceremonies on the Sunday. They are spread across four venues in University Circle: the Veale Center on campus, the Maltz Performing Arts Center, the Tinkham Veale University Center and Severance Music Center, the Cleveland Orchestra’s hall, where the School of Medicine graduates.

So the planning question is simple. Find your graduate’s school in the table above; that is your day, time and building. Undergraduate families are looking at the Sunday.

The Sunday undergraduate ceremonies are still marked “to be confirmed”

The two undergraduate diploma ceremonies, one in the morning and one in the afternoon at the Veale Center, are listed by Case Western as to be confirmed, and it has not yet said which undergraduate schools go in which. Last round the morning ceremony was for Case School of Engineering and Weatherhead undergraduates, and the afternoon for the College of Arts and Sciences and nursing undergraduates. If your graduate is an undergraduate, book the Saturday night whatever happens; it covers both.

Limited tickets, and a lottery if it comes to that

Every ceremony is ticketed, and the tickets come from each school rather than from the university centrally. Each student gets a limited number, and Case Western says plainly that if a ceremony reaches capacity, it will run a lottery. Doors open an hour before each ceremony. Every ceremony also has its own livestream for anyone who cannot be there.

The security rules, including one you will not have seen before

Case Western screens everyone at every venue: a metal detector, a bag search and a visual check of clothing. It asks guests not to bring bags at all if they can avoid it. The rules, which apply whichever building you are in:

• Bags: clear plastic, vinyl or PVC only, no bigger than 12 by 12 by 6 inches; small clutches or wallets up to about 4.5 by 6.5 inches; medical or childcare items at a separate entrance. No camera bags.
• Drinks: no water bottles and no outside drinks at all.
• Umbrellas: not allowed in; they can be left at the door.
• Poles: no selfie sticks or sticks of any kind.
• Celebration items: no balloons (back to the car), confetti, glitter or stickers, and no cowbells, air horns or whistles.
• The unusual one: eyeglass cases with metal hinges.

The campus is tobacco-free, vaping included.

Parking and shuttles

Campus parking is free across commencement weekend, with a set of priority lots near the venues and a handful of lots closed to the public. Case Western’s advice is sensible for a multi-venue weekend: park near the event you will attend last, and use the free shuttle buses that run between venues through the day, including accessible shuttles. Drop-off for guests with limited mobility is at Lot 53 and the Veale roundabout. RTA buses and trains also serve University Circle.

Where to sleep

University Circle has its own hotels, within a mile of campus: the InterContinental on the Cleveland Clinic campus, with 299 rooms, the Tudor Arms with 157, the Glidden House with 60, and a Courtyard and a Residence Inn. The catch is who else is staying there. These hotels serve the two big hospital systems next door all year, and Case Western’s own guidance is that University Circle hotels book quickly for commencement. It suggests calling early. None of the nearby hotels publishes a graduation-weekend minimum stay or prepayment rule.

When University Circle is full, the next options are close. Downtown Cleveland, with the largest choice, is about a quarter of an hour west along Euclid Avenue. Shaker Heights is as close to the south-east, and Beachwood’s suburban hotels about the same distance east.

We have no measured availability series for Cleveland; the high pressure grade leans on the university’s own warning and on how few rooms University Circle has for three days of ceremonies.