Houston Commencement

You can order your cap and gown by using this link: herff.ly/twu

DEADLINE 04/17/2023 for Bachelor and Master orders
DEADLINE 04/17/2023 for Doctoral rentals (only the gown needs to be returned)
DEADLINE 03/13/2023 for Doctoral purchases

Once on the Herff Jones web page,

1. Choose “Houston Campus”
2. Select "Cap and Gown"
3. Under the next "Select an option", choose your degree level.
   *If Bachelor or Master Degree level, you will need to "Choose your degree type" from another drop-down box.
4. Continue with your order. (Select "Cap & Gown" from the top navigation bar. Finally, choose "Graduation Regalia")

Please be advised that ALL orders will be shipped directly to your residence. You can expect it to arrive approximately 3 weeks from the date of order.

Representatives from Herff Jones will be coming on site to display rings for possible orders on Monday, 02/27/2023. Please visit them at the table across from Room # 2305 anytime between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to peruse the samples and identify a ring size if interested. If you are not able to meet with them in person and do not know your ring size, there are example sizes available in Student Life for you to try on as necessary.

Honor Cords

Students graduating with Bachelor Degrees who have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above would be eligible to purchase and wear honor cords. Honor recipients will be emailed by the end of next week. Undergraduate students can secure their honor cords through Deb with Student Life. Cords will be available for purchase beginning February 27th.

Graduate students are not able to pursue honor cord academic distinction through the same University channels. The Graduate School deems your acceptance into a Master or Doctoral level program at TWU as an honor in and of itself. For members of honor organizations, honor cords or stoles secured through those memberships may be worn at the Commencement ceremony. If desired, please get with your respective honor organization to order the cords (or stoles) that reflect your academic standing within the graduate student community.

For more information about "Graduating with Honors" please visit the Registrar’s Office "Graduation and Commencement" page and open the section "Graduating with Honors".

Veteran Cords

Individuals who have been in the military service of our country and have presented documentation to the Veteran Affairs Office (estimated deadline of May 1st) for veteran cords, will need to provide a member-4 copy of your DD214 with honorable discharge or general under honorable conditions discharge to the TWU’s VA Certifying Official in the Registrar’s Office. Your cords will be mailed to you.

Those graduating with a doctorate degree may rent the gown with tam, tassel and hood online. Students renting will need to return only their gown following the Graduating Ceremony. When you receive your order by mail, there will be a pre-paid return label in the box for you to use when sending back the gown. The hood, tam and tassel are yours to keep.

If you have an interest in purchasing the higher end doctoral regalia, please contact Deb at dunruh@twu.edu. Although the cost associated with such a purchase is significant (over $700), it may be an appropriate investment for those whose pathway will continue in the higher education realm.

Following Commencement, staff at TWU will be making a final detailed review of your classes completed for your respective degree. It will be another 6 - 8 weeks following the graduation ceremony that you can expect your diploma to arrive at the address detailed on your graduation application.

The Registrar's Office has determined that there will be 6 tickets available per student (for each of the different Commencements). There are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• The six tickets do not include you. Six guests of yours will be able to attend your Commencement.
• Children under 3 years old will not require a ticket.
• Tickets will be made available by the Registrar’s Office closer to the actual Commencement date. Please be watching for that communication in late April. The ticket retrieval instructions will be posted at that time on this web page https://twu.edu/registrar/graduation-and-commencement/ticket-information/.

More information about parking will be communicated in the upcoming weeks. In general, as long as there is no other event scheduled at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, complimentary parking is available in the Town Center Garage. If an event is scheduled in the Pavilion on the same day as the TWU Commencement, vehicles parked in the Town Center Garage would be subject to the Event Parking Rate.

For individuals choosing valet parking, the cost will be $22.00. The hotel will require payment at the moment the car is delivered to the valet operator. This serves to minimize the waiting time at the end of the event. As we draw closer to Commencement, more details will be shared.

Marc Nathan Photographers, Inc. will be working with us to capture photos of each graduating student as they walk across the stage. More detailed information will follow.