December is stated in full

EKU’s graduation guide gives the near round in one sentence: “The Fall 2026 Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for Thursday, December 10 and Friday, December 11, 2026, at the Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum.”

10 December 2026 is a Thursday and 11 December a Friday. Date, span and venue, all from the university, all consistent. The guide adds that specific ceremony details are posted at the beginning of each semester and emailed to graduates, so the college-by-day schedule for December should appear in the autumn.

Spring 2027: one date on the calendar, two days in practice

EKU publishes a single master calendar running from Fall 2025 to Summer 2030, and its Spring 2027 line reads *“Commencement May 14”**, with Finals Week at May 10 to 13 and a footnote: *“Dates subject to change.”

14 May 2027 is a Friday. That is the date EKU states, and this page records it.

But the calendar has a habit worth knowing. Its Spring 2026 line read “May 8”**, one date. EKU’s own news release for that round described “ceremonies on Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8”, two days. The calendar prints the last day of the round, not the whole round. The Fall 2026 line reads “Dec. 11” while the guide says Thursday 10 and Friday 11. Same pattern.

So the honest reading of “May 14” is: the round ends on Friday 14 May, and a Thursday 13 May session is likely and unpublished. This page keeps the two apart. The calendar’s date is the fact; the Thursday is the pattern.

And the asterisk carries its own instruction. *“Dates subject to change” is EKU telling you the spring date is not final. For lodging that means one thing: book spring rooms only on a cancellable rate. Early, because Richmond’s exit fills, but never non-refundable against a date the university has flagged.

What is not carried forward

The arena, for spring. It hosted December and Spring 2026 and is not stated for Spring 2027; this site does not publish expectations about buildings.

The ticket rule. Spring 2026 was six free guest tickets per graduate, reserved online from a set date, with unclaimed tickets released later. EKU says updated ticket details for later rounds will be added as they become available. Six is history until then.

The college-by-day schedule, for either round.

The exit and the interstate

Richmond’s chain hotels sit at the I-75 exit two miles from the arena, three of them with 92 to 97 rooms each. Lexington is 38 minutes north with a city’s worth. This is a less isolated cluster than most on this site, and the where to stay page says so; the reason to book early is the two-day pattern spreading families across two nights, not a shortage of towns.