EWU to Streamline 2026 Commencement Ceremonies

Last year’s commencement ceremonies in Cheney were justly celebrated as a big success, as the university hosted six well-attended ceremonies over two days in June – a welcome return to campus for the commencement traditions.

“Everything went fairly great last year,” says Rob Davis, events manager for the university. “We built in enough time where those folks attending that ceremony could gather and go and take pictures with their grad, and then they could leave and then the next round of people would be entering at about the same time. It worked well for traffic flow and everything else.”

Not only did every student receive the number of tickets they requested for family members to attend, but people also appreciated the timing, Davis says.

Follow-up meetings with the provost’s office and executive assistants from each of the four colleges generated a few tweaks that Davis says will help the ceremonies run even more smoothly this year.

“We changed the timing of some of the ceremonies up just a little bit,” Davis says. “Instead of last year when we started with an 8 a.m. ceremony, this year we’re starting at 9 a.m.”

To maintain fairness, the colleges will also rotate days and time slots from year to year. “If you are at 9 a.m. this year, you’re going to be at 1 p.m. next year,” Davis says. “We wanted to keep it as fair as we could to each college moving forward, so nobody is pigeonholed into a certain day or time.”

2026 Commencement Highlights:

• Quarter Commencement Save the Dates: June 12 and 13.
  • There will be six ceremonies over two days.
  • The ceremony times will be 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m.
  • The structure will remain the same, with the College of Health Science and Public Health (CHSPH), College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (CSTEM), and College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) taking up one day, and the College of Professional Programs (CPP) taking up the other.
  • Moving forward, the days will alternate; CPP ceremonies will be held on Fridays during even-numbered years.
  • The times will alternate as well.

• Semester Commencement Save the Date: May 1.
  • The start time is 9:30 a.m.

The 2026 commencements will be structured roughly the same as the previous year, with each ceremony averaging 90 minutes.

“That was perfect,” Davis says. “We got a lot of feedback from family members in attendance who loved it because the goal was: ‘Let’s get to the main part of this thing and get the student across the stage.’”

The commencement website is already live, and the page for students to register for graduation will be live in early 2026. The site includes frequently asked questions and answers, including the sequential steps students need to take to participate in commencement and the deadlines for each requirement.

The university is once again looking for faculty and staff to sign up as commencement staff, flexing their regular work hours to help out with the ceremonies. That sign-up page will be shared with the community when it goes live. In the meantime, those who want to work commencement, or have questions, can email commencement@ewu.edu.