Cap a little askew? Stole facing the wrong way? Name card in hand? No worries.
Last week, UNLV celebrated the class of 2025 as they earned their degrees during fall 2025 Commencement. Before the ceremony for graduate students, we captured Lee Business School faculty and staff waiting outside the Thomas & Mack Center to support students right up to the very last moment. They helped students make final adjustments to their regalia and offered a few final words of encouragement before sending students into their next chapter as graduates.
Each student receives a name card upon arrival for Commencement. The card is handed to the card reader, who then announces the graduate’s name as they cross the stage. This year, more than 2,300 graduates had their names called out.
Students can decorate their graduation cap, also known as a mortarboard, to celebrate their accomplishment in a way that reflects their values, goals, and journey. The practice has become so common in the last two decades that UNLV folklorist Sheila Bock documented this tradition in 2016.
UNLV faculty help students put on their caps and place the tassels to the right. During the ceremony, students move their tassels to the left upon direction from the podium, representing their progression from student to graduate.
Students who participate in campus organizations may receive stoles or cords that they can wear on their graduation day. The stoles represent academic accomplishments and celebrate their participation in clubs, teams, or cultural identities.
Students earning master’s degrees wear an additional hood over their robe. The hood is draped from the shoulder and reflects the field of study and institution that conferred the degree through its length and color.
The gown color reflects the degree the student is earning: bachelor’s students wear a scarlet graduation gown, master’s students wear a black gown, and doctoral students wear scarlet and gray gowns.
Each gown is embroidered with the phrase, “Rebels Forever.” Every graduate of UNLV automatically becomes a Rebels Forever member after they pass the Commencement stage — joining a lifelong community of over 151,000 alumni around the world. Congratulations, Rebels!
