The Gallagher Center, the site of the Graduate
Ceremony and the Commencement Liturgy, is located on the main campus of
Niagara University.
The Undergraduate Commencement is held at
Alumni Arena located on the grounds of SUNY Buffalo (North
Campus). From the NYS Thruway (I-90), take Exit 50 to the
Youngman Highway (I-290) and exit at Millersport Highway North (Exit
5B-Route 263). Proceed to the SUNY exit (SUNYAB Coventry
Entrance), which is located in front of the Amherst Pepsi Arena.
Turn left onto the campus grounds, and follow the signs.
If you are traveling from Canada please
leave ample time for crossing the bridge and clearing customs. This is
a Canadian holiday weekend and bridge traffic will be very heavy,
expect long delays.
At the Graduate Ceremony and the
Commencement Liturgy in the Upper Level Gallagher Center, no tickets
are needed and you may bring as many guests as you wish. Seating
is on a first-come, first-served basis.
For the Undergraduate Ceremony, each graduating
student in attendance is entitled to six tickets for their guest(s)
use, for general admission seating, determined by first-come,
first-seated arrival at Alumni Arena (graduating students do not need
tickets). This requirement is due to regulations imposed by the
State University of New York (the location of the undergraduate
ceremony) based upon the size of the class and the number of available
seats in the Arena. Any person of any age occupying a seat must
have a ticket:
strollers are not allowed in the main hall of the Arena (we do not
recommend that young children be brought to the ceremonies, as they may
distract others in attendance and will find the ceremonies much too
long for their comfort).
There are areas reserved for
those in wheelchairs at both the Gallagher Center and at Alumni
Arena. In order to accommodate as many people as possible in
these areas, we kindly ask that only one other family member remain in
this area with the special-needs individual, while the remaining guests
are seated in an area very close by. No wheelchairs will be
available on-site for use during the events, so please bring your own
if you know you will be in need of one.
However, you must be aware that
Alumni Arena in particular has many stairs and can be difficult to
navigate. It is a huge venue seating 5,000 guests, with some
bleacher seats without backs. Even though elevators are available
there is still a great deal of walking and stair-climbing necessary to
locate a seat in many sections of the venue. With this in mind,
it may be a better choice for those family members or guests with
difficulty walking to not attend the ceremony in person but wait to
watch it on Niagara's complimentary DVD, which will be sent to the
graduates (late summer).
