CU Boulder 2019 Commencement: Weather, Timing, Security Info

BOULDER, CO — Congratulations to the newest graduates of CU Boulder, who will have their commencement on Thursday, May 9. That morning, students will close off their undergraduate experiences. Information on timing, weather, traffic, the commencement speaker, security and live streaming is below.

The gates of Folsom Field will open at 7 a.m., and school officials ask guests to be seated by 8:15 a.m. to watch the student processional. No tickets are required.

The event will run rain or shine, or possibly snow in this case. The National Weather Service forecasts an 80 percent chance of snow in the morning and early afternoon, giving way to an 80 percent chance of rain and snow.

See the National Weather Service's Boulder forecast here.

Officials remind that the best seating goes to early arrivals. Traffic will be heavy for about an hour and a half before the event, the school says, and for about an hour afterwards.

See a map with important locations here.

The commencement address will be given by CU Boulder alumna Savannah Sellers, who's a correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC and co-host of Stay Tuned. Only 27, Sellers is one of the school's youngest ever commencement speakers.

“She was No. 1 on our list,” said Senior Class Council President Chad Brokaw, according to the university. “How young she is and how quickly she rose in such a large organization like NBC is inspiring to all of us.”

In total, CU Boulder is awarding 6,595 bachelor’s degrees, 1,421 master’s degrees, 176 law degrees and 427 doctoral degrees, the school says.

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Regardless of the weather, the ceremony will be held at Folsom Field.

There will be a live stream of the event, the Facebook event page says. Visit that page for details, as officials will post them there. School officials will post

All graduates and guests are subject to security screening, officials remind the public. This may include walk-through metal detectors, electronic wanding and inspection of bags and personal items.

For security purposes, officials are prohibiting many types of bags, including backpacks, large purses, drawstring bags, fanny packs and more.

See the full clear bag policy.