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.
The deadline to apply to graduate was December 1, 2024. If you haven’t applied to graduate, you must notify us 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. BA, BSc, BMus and graduate students should pay this fee to the Dalhousie Registrar’s Office. Undergraduate Journalism students should pay this fee to King’s Student Accounts. NOTE: If you applied late and do not pay your late fee, you will not be assessed for graduation eligibility and will not graduate.
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.
Lunchtime–Grad BBQ in the Quad for graduands, faculty and staff (time TBD), hosted by KSU
5:45 p.m.–Reception in the Wardroom
6:45 p.m.–President’s Dinner in Prince Hall
10 a.m.–2 p.m.–Grad Day Galley will be open, organized by KSU
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
8 p.m.–Final Wardy Night – If your guests are not King’s students or alumni, you will need to sign them in as usual, and each King’s student or alumni may only sign in 2 guests.
10:30 a.m.–Coffee with the President in the Lodge
Graduands must wear a gown and hood to Encaenia. Gowns and hoods may be obtained from the G. Peter Wilson Room, 2nd floor of the New Academic Building (NAB) during two times: Wednesday, May 28 from 12-2:30 p.m. and Thursday, May 29 from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. A deposit of $50 (cash or cheque only) is required when the gown and hood are issued. The deposit will be refunded in full upon return of the gown and hood to G. Peter Wilson Room until 6 p.m. on Encaenia day. Late returns may be made to the A&A Reception Desk on Friday, May 30.
Mortarboards for Master’s graduands will be available at the same times listed above. All graduating Black students of African descent are eligible to borrow a Kente stole for the Encaenia ceremony, which may be collected during gown pick-up. All graduating Indigenous students at King’s are eligible to borrow a stole, featuring a design specially created by King’s Indigenous Support and Outreach Coordinator, Emily Pictou-Roberts, for the ceremony. This stole can also be collected during gown pick-up.
Tickets will be available starting Monday, March 17, 2025. They are required for the President’s Dinner, the Encaenia (Graduation) Ceremony and the Coffee with the President event. Please pick up/reserve your tickets as soon as possible.
President’s Dinner, Wednesday, May 28
Encaenia (Graduation) Ceremony, Thursday, May 29
Coffee with the President, Friday, May 30
Please contact Tami Kendell (tami.kendell@ukings.ca) for questions regarding the tickets for the President’s Dinner and Coffee with the President. Please contact Elizabeth Williams (elizabeth.williams@ukings.ca) for questions regarding tickets to the ceremony.
Note: Students graduating from our Master of Fine Arts programs can call King’s at 902-422-1271 to reserve and/or pre-pay for tickets for any of the above events.
The King’s Alumni Association provides the opportunity to pre-order a King’s degree frame to help mark this special occasion. The preordered frame will be available for pickup in the lobby of the Arts & Administration Building (A&A) immediately following the graduation ceremonies. Those who did not preorder a frame will also be able to purchase one at this time. The monies raised from the sale of these frames will be used to support the Alumni Association’s priority of providing financial assistance to students through scholarships and bursaries.
The Commencement Group will be selling flowers and Class of 2025 t-shirts at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. Graduates and families can pre-order bouquets and t-shirts here or buy them onsite before or after the ceremony.
The full Encaenia will be livestreamed beginning at 2:30 p.m. The stream will be posted on the Encaenia event page. Video recording of the celebration will be posted to the King’s website after the ceremony.
There will be an official photographer at the event to record the ceremony. It is likely that you will be photographed by the official photographer at the moment you are conferred with your degree (capped). These photographs will be available on the Encaenia Archive Page in the week following the ceremony.
We encourage your family and friends to take photographs at the ceremony, but we ask that they move to the front of the auditorium shortly before you will be conferred. Once they have taken their photographs, we ask that they return to their seat to make room for others.
There will be a special rate available for graduates and their families who choose to stay at King’s through Conference Services between May 20–May 31, 2025. This rate is $45 per night per bed, or $90 for a double, taxes included. Please reach out to conferences@ukings.ca to book.
Once you graduate, you will automatically be a member of the oldest alumni association in Canada. Congratulations!
Along with maintaining and creating connections with your fellow King’s peers, the University of King’s College Alumni Association can become a vital resource in helping you as you go forward into the next phase of your life. Please share your news with them by writing to our Alumni Relations Manager, Candice MacDonald, at candice.macdonald@ukings.ca or update your contact information—especially your email address—so that they can stay in touch with you. The Alumni Association will keep you posted on King’s news and alumni through events on the King’s website, our alumni magazine (Tidings) as well as by their monthly alumni e-newsletters.