Graduation Information

Contact Information
Registrar’s Office:
Phone 631-761-7040
registrar@tourolaw.edu
paulak@tourolaw.edu (This address will be checked up until 9:00 p.m. on May 25)

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts:
Phone 516-299-3100
www.tillescenter.org
Directions and Parking Information

Island Photography:
Phone 516-767-1234
www.islandphoto.com

Prior to the Ceremony
Review the contents of the Convocation Packet, including deadlines and Commencement Ceremony information.

Class Orator/Class Professor: Voting for Class Orator and Class Professor will be held under the supervision of the Student Bar Association.

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Commencement Ceremony Information
Graduates will report to the Tilles Center Main Entrance, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, NY, to check in, no later than 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 26, 2019.

Academic Attire: All graduates wear the Touro Law Center cap and gown. The hood will be carried over the left arm until the appropriate time in the ceremony when graduates are hooded. LL.M. students wear a gold stole and students graduating with honors wear gold honor cords. (No other cords are permitted.) You must have your cap, gown, and hood with you. Hairpins are helpful to hold caps in place. Please have family members take charge of personal items, handbags, etc. Attire appropriate for the occasion is requested. Graduation gowns can be exceptionally warm on a hot day – graduates may be more comfortable without suit jackets.

A Touro Law Center Information Table in the lobby of the Tilles Center will be staffed with graduation volunteers.

Faculty marshals will assist with organizing the student procession. Your cooperation is needed and will be greatly appreciated so the student procession will be orderly and ready to enter the theater on time.

The Commencement Exercises will begin at 12:00 p.m. - sharp. It is your responsibility to be in place in the line of march no later than 11:00 a.m., ready to enter the hall precisely at 11:30 a.m.

Due to increased security measures, Graduates and guests are requested not to bring backpacks, bags, etc. into the Tilles Center. Such items may be subject to search by security personnel.

Doors to the Tilles Center will open for Guests at 11:15 a.m. Tilles Center personnel will be available to assist disabled guests with entrance to the theater and appropriate seating.

Professional photographs will be taken of each graduate during the ceremony. You will be sent proofs of your individual and class pictures for purchase. (Class photograph will be a composite of individual graduate, faculty and administration photographs). We request that family or friends taking pictures do not approach the stage area.

While we encourage the enthusiastic support of family and friends, graduates and their guests are expected to respect the solemnity and dignity of the occasion. Behavior that detracts from the ceremony will not be tolerated. We respectfully request that air horns not be brought into the theatre. The noise interrupts and prolongs the ceremony and denies other graduates and their families the joy of hearing names announced. Violators of this request will be asked to leave the theatre.

Please pay close attention to Graduation coordinators and volunteers for directions.

The Commencement Herald will give directions to stand, be seated, etc.

The New York Brass Choir, Dean Karahalis, Conductor provides the music.

Faculty Marshals lead the student portion of the Academic Procession into the theatre. Graduates are directed to their seats in the center front of the auditorium. Graduates remain standing while the Academic Procession of Administrators, Faculty and Honored Guests enters the auditorium and ascends the stage.

The Commencement Exercises are declared open and all are asked to rise for the National Anthem and to remain standing for the Invocation.

• Dr. Kadish delivers his remarks.
• Dean Ballan delivers a brief welcome and presents several awards.
• Dean Ballan will deliver his remarks.
• Speakers deliver their remarks.
• Groups of graduates will be presented by degree and completion date to Dr. Kadish for confirmation of the successful completion of degree requirements. Graduates will stand when their group is called and approach the stage at the direction of graduation coordinators.
• Upon ascending the stairs to the stage, graduates names will be called. Graduates will cross to stage right to be hooded and photographed. Graduates will continue through the stage right curtain where another photograph will be taken. Graduates will then return to their seats. It is possible that Dr. Kadish will choose to stand and shake hands with graduates. If this is the case, please be respectful, and stop to shake his hand.
• All will be asked to rise for the Benediction.
• Faculty Marshals will rejoin their graduate groups and the Commencement Exercises will be declared closed.
• The Academic Procession of Graduates will leave the auditorium followed by the Administrators, Faculty and honored guests.
• There will be a Post- Commencement Reception in the Lobby of the Tilles Center.

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Cap and Gown Return – Law Center personnel and graduation volunteers will be available in the lobby of the Tilles Center for graduates to return gowns (and gold stoles for LL.M. graduates). The hood and cap are yours to keep. The gowns are rentals only and graduates will be charged for gowns that are not returned. Please remember that degrees cannot be conferred until all obligations to the Law Center are satisfied including the return of graduation gowns. Your cooperation in promptly returning these items will be appreciated.

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All May 2019 graduates participating in the Commencement Ceremony are considered to be candidates for graduation. Diplomas are not distributed at the ceremony. All requirements must be completed by the degree conferral date – June 4, 2019.

Graduation Honors: May 2019 Valedictorians, Salutatorians, and Honor Graduates will be determined by December 2018 cumulative GPAs. Graduates earning these honors will wear gold honor cords as part of their academic attire for the ceremony and their names will be included on a page in the Commencement Program.

G.P.A requirements for Graduation Honors are:

Cum Laude 3.533 – 3.732

Magna Cum Laude 3.733 – 3.932

Summa Cum Laude 3.933 and above

Professors are required to submit final grades for graduating students by Friday, May 17, 2019.

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Degrees for May 2019 graduates will be conferred on June 4, 2019. Immediately following the entry of degree information into the academic records system, diplomas will be ordered. It takes approximately 6 weeks for diplomas to be printed and mailed to graduates. Graduates will be notified, via Touro email, when degrees are conferred and diplomas have been ordered. Your Touro email account will remain open for one year from your graduation date.

NYS Bar Examination applications (available beginning April 1, 2019) must be submitted online, to the Board of Law Examiners website, by April 30, 2019. https://www.nybarapply.org/. Once you submit the application, the Board of Law Examiners will e-mail a completed Certificate of Attendance to you. They will also email a copy of the Handwriting Sample form. Both forms will have bar codes for your unique identification. The completion of the handwriting sample must be witnessed. You may come to the office to complete the form or you may complete the form in the presence of a notary public and return both the Certificate of Attendance and the Handwriting Sample form to the Registrar’s Office. These forms will be used to certify your eligibility to sit for the NYS bar exam.

Immediately following the conferral of degrees, certification documents for the New York State Bar Examination will be sent to the New York State Board of Law Examiners to meet the deadline of June 15, 2019.

If you do not plan to sit for the July 2019 administration of the NYS Bar Examination, please notify the Registrar’s office. This information enables us to more accurately calculate the bar pass rate.

If you are taking a bar exam in another jurisdiction, please check the application information carefully to familiarize yourself with procedures and deadlines. Every state is different. In the application process, there will be a form that will need to be signed by the Registrar certifying that you have completed degree requirements and are eligible to sit for the exam.