Commencement 2026

Students who ordered Commencement regalia can pick it up on Thursday, April 9, 2026 and Friday, April 10, 2026, between 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. in the Office of the Registrar, Main Building, Suite 108. Questions? Please email registrar@peace.edu.  

• Please note that graduates should wear shoes appropriate for walking in the grass and on the brick walkways.
• Graduates wear a university-issued cap, gown, and stole for both the Baccalaureate and Commencement ceremonies. The tassel is worn on the right side of the mortarboard until the student is awarded a degree.
• Mortarboards may be decorated in a two-dimensional manner only.
• Graduates who are members of disciplinary honor societies should wear the pins or cords they received as part of their induction into the honor society.
• Latin honors recipients will wear gold cords to indicate graduating with Latin Honors.
• Student athletes will wear green and white cords to indicate their participation in William Peace University athletics.
• Student leaders will wear green cords to indicate their participation in student leadership positions.

Watch: How to Wear Your Cap and Gown

Have you asked someone to “hood” you during the Baccalaureate service?

One of the unique traditions at Peace is a hooding ceremony that happens during our Baccalaureate service on Friday, May 8, at 3:30 at Holy Trinity Church (across the street from campus). The Baccalaureate service is traditionally a religious service held before commencement. The service is open to ALL students regardless of religious background or interest.

Each graduating student will be “hooded” by a person selected by the graduate. At Peace, we call that special person your “hooder.”  The graduate and “hooder” will process in and sit together. This person will put your hood on you during the ceremony and symbolically prepare you for Commencement on Saturday. Your “hooder” should be meaningful to you and someone who supported you during your educational journey at Peace. You may select a family member, friend, significant other, or staff member.  All faculty members are part of the ceremony and, therefore, will NOT be individual “hooders” for students. Each student can ask only one person to hood them.

You must RSVP for the Baccalaureate. You will receive an email with further details.

If you have any questions about selecting your “hooder” or the Baccalaureate service, please contact Dawn Dillon at ddillon@peace.edu.

The History of the Peace Institute Alma Mater

Nannie Carrington Dinwiddie (1865-1946), Lady Principal of Peace Institute from 1891 to 1909, and Miss Martha Adderton Burkhead McCorkle (1907-2004), Class of 1926, wrote the Peace Institute Alma Mater together. It first appeared in print in the 1929 Lotus (yearbook) and for years afterward was attributed only to Miss Nannie. However, later documentation revealed that Miss Nannie and Miss Martha worked together to create the Alma Mater.

Our Alma Mater

“In the heart of Carolina,
‘Neath its skies of blue,
Stands our Noble Alma Mater,
Glorious to view.
Classic in her broad proportions,
Looks she proudly down
Reared against the arch of heaven,
With the stars for crown.

(Chorus)
Lift the chorus, speed it onward; Let it never cease;
Hail to thee, our Alma Mater; Hail, all hail, to Peace!”

Graduates should arrive at 3:00 p.m. The ceremony starts promptly at 3:30 p.m. Families can be seated after 2:45 p.m.

• Graduates should arrive with their “hooder” at Holy Trinity Anglican Church 100 E. Peace Street, between 3-3:10 p.m. 
• Graduates and their “hooder” will sit together during the service, while guests will sit in the general seating area.
• The service begins promptly at 3:30 p.m. and will last approximately an hour.
• Graduates should wear their regalia (gown and stole). Their “hooder” will carry their hood, cap, and tassel. Graduates and “hooders” enter the church through the left-side courtyard door (as you face the church from campus), and families and guests use the entrance off Peace Street.
• Attending this service is strongly encouraged but not required.
• Your RSVP to the baccalaureate service is required.

• Please arrive at the Hermann Athletic Center by 8:30 a.m.  
• Graduates should locate the check-in table inside the Main Gym to receive their name card as soon as they arrive. Graduates will provide the name card to the name reader as they approach the stage.
• Graduates should dress in full regalia. Please keep in mind you will be walking in grass and over bricks. It may be wet, depending on recent weather.
• Grauates will line up in the Main Gym, and will not be lined up alphabetically.
• The Main Lawn opens for guests at 7 a.m., and the ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. No tickets are needed, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. In an effort to be equitable, reserved seats are not permitted.
• The ceremony is expected to last approximately 75-90 minutes.

Students who are eligible to graduate with Latin honors at the end of the fall semester prior to graduation will be able to wear honor cords at Commencement. Honor cords will be given to eligible graduates along with their regalia.

Latin honors will be conferred on graduating seniors whose cumulative GPA meets the following criteria:

• 3.9-4.0 Summa Cum Laude
• 3.7-3.89 Magna Cum Laude
• 3.5-3.69 Cum Laude

Students must earn a minimum of 45 semester hours at William Peace University to be eligible for Latin honors.

The Office of the Registrar orders diplomas so that Latin honors are properly reflected on the diploma. Diplomas are mailed to your preferred address after all of your degree requirements are met (conferral) and balances are paid. If you have not received your diploma by August 1, please contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@peace.edu. The diploma includes the graduate’s full name, degree, and academic distinctions (cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude) as applicable. Your major(s) and minor(s) will be reflected on your transcript, but are not printed on the diploma.

Diplomas are 8.8 x 11” and are printed on high-quality paper.