Holiday closure: The King's campus is closed from end of day December 20 to January 2.
The conferring of academic and honorary degrees takes place during Encaenia, a ceremony rooted in the traditions of Oxford. Encaenia is a Greek word meaning “beginning, commencement,” and the term has been used since the founding of King’s in 1789. The King’s graduation ceremony has not changed greatly over the years apart from the conferring of honorary degrees (although the use of most of the Latin has given way to English).
All King’s students who plan to attend a graduation ceremony go to Encaenia. Bachelors of Arts, Science and Music are conferred by the president of Dalhousie University, while Bachelors in Journalism and honorary degrees are conferred by the chancellor of the University of King’s College. Combined honours degrees in Contemporary studies, Early Modern studies, and History of Science and Technology are conferred together by the presidents of Dalhousie and King’s.
The president of Dalhousie and the chancellor of King’s confer the degrees of Master of Journalism, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction and Master of Fine Arts in Fiction. Graduands are presented alphabetically by degree and come forward individually to be conferred; kneeling to receive the degree is optional.
The academic gowns and hoods of faculty and graduands, the procession led by the apparitor carrying the university mace, the music and celebratory setting make King’s Encaenia a happy, splendid and memorable event.
Please notify the Registrar’s Office by December 1, 2024 of your intention to graduate by applying to graduate directly through Dal Online under Web for Students > Student Records > Apply to Graduate. Reference this helpful video for guidance on how to apply. There is a late fee of $50 for those who apply to graduate after this date.
If you do NOT plan to attend the graduation ceremony, you must notify the Registrar’s Office by emailing registrar@ukings.ca. They will also require an up-to-date mailing address so that your parchment may be mailed to you.
If you are a potential graduate, information will be sent to you from the President’s Office via email regarding your graduation week. Make sure the Registrar’s Office has your valid email address on file so that you receive this important information. You may change your address through Dal Online or by emailing registrar@ukings.ca. NOTE: Email communications are sent to your institutional email address so be sure to check this email account.
You are encouraged to check your student account balance before graduation. Students with an outstanding debt to the College (tuition, fees, library fines, etc.) will not receive their parchments at Encaenia. Instead, you will receive an empty folder on stage. Once you settle your outstanding debt you will receive your parchment. Please consult the Payments Guide or visit the Student Accounts Office at accounts@ukings.ca if you have questions. Please note that online payments can take up to 2 to 3 business days to appear on your account.
If you have a chosen name that is different from your legal name and it hasn’t been reflected on your Academic Record, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@ukings.ca as soon as possible. This will ensure that your chosen name will be reflected on your name card to be read at the ceremony. Degree parchments are required to have legal names.
If you have recently completed a legal name change, please send documentation providing proof of name change to Academic Services as soon as possible, and no later than May 9, 2025.
All graduating students may request one or multiple personal display parchment(s), to be included in their parchment folder at Encaenia, for a fee of $50 per parchment. The deadline for requesting a personal display parchment for Encaenia is March 31, 2025. A personal display parchment is a document that serves as a non-legal parchment designed exclusively for display purposes. Students who request personal display parchments will still receive their degree parchment at Encaenia of their graduating year. It is not meant to replace your regular parchment. Unlike regular degree parchments, personal display parchments may have your chosen name and/or a name displayed in non-Latin alphabet or logographic language (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, etc.). Find out more about requesting a personal display parchment.
All graduating Indigenous students at King’s are entitled to receive a traditional medicine pouch as a gift from the university during the ceremony. This gift will be provided to students while they walk across the stage. Please contact the Registrar’s Office via email at registrar@ukings.ca by May 9, 2025 to let us know if you would like to receive this gift during Encaenia.
We want to ensure that Encaenia is accessible for all who wish to attend. If you and/or your guest(s) require special seating or other accessibility arrangements, please contact Pamela Hazel at pamela.hazel@ukings.ca.
Please check your email, this page, as well as King’s social media, for updates regarding Encaenia.
5:45 p.m. – Reception in the Wardroom
6:45 p.m. – President’s Dinner in Prince Hall
10:30 a.m. – Baccalaureate Service in the Chapel
12:45 – Journalism, Writing & Publishing photo on the steps of the Library
1 p.m. – Class of 2025 photo on the steps of the Library
1:15 – Departure of Class of 2025 procession from the Quad to the Dalhousie Arts Centre
2:30 – Encaenia ceremony at the Dalhousie Arts Centre
4:45 – Post-ceremony reception in Prince Hall
10:30 a.m. – Coffee with the President in the Lodge
Other important information such as gowns and hoods, livestreaming, degree frames, flowers, and tickets will be available in the winter of 2025.