Summer and fall University of Alabama graduates can request free tickets to hear President Donald Trump’s commencement address until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, according to an email sent to graduates Friday. The optional event will be held next Thursday, with the time yet to be announced.
According to the email, students may be expected to arrive as soon as two hours early to the event. It is separate from each of the eight regular commencement ceremonies to be held May 2-4, where degrees will be conferred as per usual.
The email sent to students on Friday followed a similar one sent the day before that had listed the opt-in deadline as noon on Friday for spring graduates with similar instructions for requesting tickets.
Students graduating in the summer or fall must request tickets online through their Crimson email by 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Each graduate may only request one non-transferable ticket, which will be issued to students’ Crimson emails next week and must be downloaded to a mobile device before entry.
“Because the President of the United States will be attending the ceremony, security for the event will be significantly heighted,” says the security and conduct expectations students must agree to before they may receive their tickets. “Any effort to inappropriately disrupt the ceremony or any speaker will not be tolerated.”
Prohibited conduct includes “disruptive demonstrations or heckling and other obstructive conduct” and actions such as “standing or holding/raising any item that potentially obstructs someone’s view.” Items such as signs, placards, flags and artificial noisemakers will also be prohibited.
Students found to be engaged in “inappropriate disruptive behavior” will be subject to discipline, which may include “expulsion, arrest, and/or an immediate campus ban” depending on the misconduct. The University may also hold students’ degrees pending the outcome of student conduct proceedings, and it “reserves the right to deny access or immediately remove” individuals who violate the security and conduct expectations or other campus policies.
“The University of Alabama strongly supports free speech, and in support of the right to free expression, the University will have designated, prominent spaces on campus where individuals may elect to peacefully demonstrate” during the ceremony, the agreement said, adding that more information about these spaces will be shared in the days leading up to the ceremony.
Editor’s note: This story was updated May 2 to correct an error. The opt-in deadline for spring graduates to receive tickets was not extended to Sunday, April 27 as an April 25 update to this story incorrectly stated. Rather, the Sunday deadline was for summer and fall graduates to receive a ticket. The Crimson White wrote a follow-up to this story with more information about tickets that was provided after this story was posted.
