Investiture is the business school's ceremony celebrating the graduating MBA students. Each student will be called to cross the stage and receive their master's hood from the dean. This ceremony formally "invests" you with the master's hood and the authority of your new designation as MBA and Rice alumnus!

On the day of Investiture, all parking lots will be open and access gates lifted (gates will be up no earlier than 9 a.m.). As it will be a busy day and Central Campus Garage is a coveted parking area, friends and families should arrive early to secure parking. This may be a good time to take pictures and stroll the campus before the ceremony starts at 1 p.m. Please see section on parking below to locate other available lots.

Tickets are not distributed for this event, and students may invite as many guests as they like.

Live Webcast Information

A live web cast will be available for those guests not able to attend Investiture and may be accessed at business.rice.edu/investiturewebcast beginning at 12 Noon (ceremony begins at 1 p.m.)  A recorded version of the ceremony will be available for viewing the following week. This will broadcast in Shell Auditorium (located in McNair Hall) for those family members who may have trouble viewing the event from Tudor Fieldhouse.

Investiture Reception

Immediately following Investiture, a reception will be held in McNair Hall until 5:30 p.m. While light hors d’oeuvres will be served, most students and family/friends go to dinner after the reception. 

Out of town guests can find dining recommendations by visiting these sites:

• http://www.urbanspoon.com/c/8/Houston-restaurants.html
• http://www.zagat.com/houston
• http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g56003-Houston_Texas.html
• http://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/

Parking/Maps

All campus parking lots are opened up during graduation weekend, so students and guests are welcome to park in any of the lots for free, including the Campus Garage. Parking Map. Please note our MBA Professional students will be attending class Friday and Saturday, which may impact parking, particularly in the Central Campus Garage. 

Disability Accessible Information

If there are guests with a disability or who are elderly, there are several options. Rice police will allow cars to stop for several minutes directly in front of Tudor Fieldhouse in order to unload guests. If guests are driving, they may wish to park in either the Alice Pratt Brown or West parking lots, all of which are the closest to Tudor Fieldhouse. Finally, guests can utilize the Rice campus shuttle which has stops in front of Tudor and McNair Hall, where the reception will be held following the ceremony.

Disability seating is located on the second floor of Tudor Fieldhouse and is easily accessible via elevator. There will be staff on hand to advise visitors of the location of the elevators.

Professional Photography

While each MBA graduate is being hooded on stage during the Investiture, Marc Nathan Photographers will provide everyone with the opportunity to purchase photographs from this memorable moment. They will also be set up in McNair Hall during the post-Investiture reception to do family portraits. Information on availability of those images will be sent to each graduate's email address provided with his/her permanent address on file with the business school's Program Coordinators. If this information is not current and you'd like to receive information, please forward your correct info via email to marc@mnathanphoto.com.

You may visit www.gradphotonetwork.com to view all the images from the ceremony as well as the family portraits. Approximately five days following the ceremony, emails will go out to everyone to view their specific photos. Pricing and package options are available online and there is no obligation to purchase anything. If you have any questions, please contact grads@mnathanphoto.com or call the office at (281) 549-2367.

Hand-held cameras and camcorders may be used from seats, but we ask that guests remain seated throughout the ceremony. Standing briefly to photograph an individual graduate is permitted.

For individuals or families wishing to take professional portraits, Marc Nathan Photography will be set up in Rm. 116 of McNair Hall during the post-Investiture reception.

Commencement

Commencement is the main Rice University graduation ceremony held at 8:30 am on Saturday, May 16, 2020. The ceremony will feature a full academic procession and recession, the conferral of degrees, the Commencement Speaker’s address, presentation of several awards, and brief remarks by other officials. The plenary session should run about 1.5 hours in length. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to Tudor Fieldhouse, where seating is limited.

Commencement is held outside and students may invite as many guests as they like. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Should it rain, the ceremony will be held in Tudor Fieldhouse; in this case, students are issued two inclement weather tickets for their guests. There are no other tickets needed for Commencement.

Additional information about Commencement can be found by going to the University’s Commencement website

International Visitors

Those visiting Houston from international destinations may need documentation from Rice University in order to apply for a visa to attend the Investiture and/or Commencement ceremonies. If this applies to you, please complete this form for the Office of Student Services.

Upon receipt of each student’s request, our staff will complete a letter that will be useful as part of the visa application process.