Commencement 2026

We are pleased to announce that Commencement 2026 will take place on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts from 12:00 pm - 2:30 pm.
Doors will open at 11:45 am for guests.


LIVESTREAM

Commencement 2026 will be livestreamed for friends and family who can't be with us in person. Please visit www.tourolaw.edu/liveevent to watch the ceremony!


Commencement Awards Program

The Commencement Awards Program will take place before commencement exercises on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 from 9:30 - 10:30 am at the Tilles Center in the Krasnoff Theater.

Students attending the awards ceremony should arrive at the Tilles Center by 8:45 am.

1. Please dress in cap & gowns for the awards ceremony. You will not need your hoods.
2. Please arrive at the Tilles Center for Performing Arts no later than 8:45 a.m. for check in. Doors open for the awards ceremony at 9:00 am for guests.
3. Tickets are required to attend the awards ceremony. Tickets can be picked up in the Institutional Advancement Office, Suite 402, starting on Tuesday, May 12th, and should be picked up no later than Monday, May 18th at 5 pm. If you don’t pick up your tickets, they will be available commencement dayt at the student information in the lobby.
4. Only official honoree stoles are permitted to be worn at the awards ceremony and commencement. This includes TAPS, Law Review, and Moot Court only.
5. When you arrive, please be sure to enter through the Tilles Center concert hall to get to Krasnoff Theater.

Commencement Information for Graduates

Tickets, Caps, and Gowns 

  1. 1. Tickets for the Commencement Ceremony on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, are included with your cap, gowns, and hoods at pickup from the Administration Office in Room 404. Please email events@tourolaw.edu to let us know if you are unable to pick up your tickets, caps, gowns, and hoods. If you cannot pick up your tickets, cap, gowns, and hoods by Sunday, May 17th, we will bring them to the Tilles Center so you can pick them up from the student check-in table. We suggest you pick up prior to, in order to try on and steam your gown!

  2. 2. The caps, gowns, and hoods for guest hooders will be at the Tilles Center in the Robing Room. Guest Hooders are expected to arrive at the Tilles Center no later than 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26.

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  5. 3. Tickets are mandatory for all guests; individuals will not be allowed into the Tilles Center without tickets. The Tilles Center also requires children to have a ticket.

  6. 4. Only official stoles are permitted to be worn at commencement. This includes TAPS, Law Review, and Moot Court only.
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  7. The Touro Law Center Commencement Exercises

    will be held at 12:00 p.m. on
    Tuesday, May 26, 2026

    at the

    Tilles Center for the Performing Arts
    720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, NY

    Phone: 516-299-3100
    www.tillescenter.org

  8.  

General Information:

When to arrive, where to go, and what to do!

  • Graduates will report to the Tilles Center Main Entrance, no later than 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

  • Doors to the Tilles Center will open for guests at 11:45 a.m. Tilles Center personnel will be available to assist disabled guests with entrance to the theater and appropriate seating.

  • A Touro Law Center Information Table will be in the lobby of the Tilles Center and be staffed with graduation volunteers who will be able to assist students and guests.
  • Faculty Marshals will assist with organizing the student procession. Your cooperation is needed and will be greatly appreciated iin order to ensure that the student procession is 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 to march no later than 11:30 a.m., ready to enter the hall precisely at 12:00 p.m.

  • 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. Students graduating with honors wear gold honor cords. (No other cords are permitted during the Commencement Ceremony. Only official honoree stoles are permitted to be worn at commencement. This includes TAPS, Law Review, and Moot Court only.)

    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.

  • 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 not get in the way of the photographer. No other professional photographers may be in the theater.
    Island Photography, Phone: 516-767-1234, Website: www.islandphoto.com  

    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 theater. 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 theater.

The Commencement Ceremony: What to expect

Please pay close attention to the Graduation Coordinators and volunteers for directions.

- The Commencement Herald will give directions to stand, be seated, etc.
- Faculty Marshals lead the student portion of the Academic Procession into the theater.
- 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 enter the auditorium and ascend 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.

Speakers will deliver their remarks. After the speeches:

Groups of graduates will be presented by degree and completion date to Dr. Patricia Salkin 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 the graduation coordinators:

- December 2025 JD Graduates
- May 2026 JD Graduates

  • Upon ascending the stairs to the stage, graduates’ names will be called.
  • Graduates will cross to stage right to be hooded and photographed with their hooder
  • Graduates will continue to stage right, where a photograph will be taken with the Dean
  • Graduates will stop before the steps for another photograph
  • Graduates will then return to their seats.
  • 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 Administrators, Faculty, and honored guests will leave the hall, followed by the graduates.
  • There will be a Post-Commencement Reception with refreshments in the Atrium of the Tilles Center.

Degree Information

What if graduation requirements are not complete by May 26th (the day of the Commencement Ceremony)?

All May 2026 graduates participating in the Commencement Ceremony are considered to be candidates for graduation. Diplomas are not distributed at the ceremony. All requirements must be complete by the degree conferral date – June 2, 2026.


Degree Conferral

Degrees for May 2026 graduates will be conferred on June 2, 2026. 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.