For wheelchair information and description of services the University provides to guests with disabilities or health concerns, contact Lauralee Field, 203 432-2317. Please submit requests for special services, such as sign language interpreting, by May 1 to insure availability. Assistive listening devises may also be reserved for Baccalaureate services in Woolsey Hall.

Parking
Cars with valid handicapped tags or license plates will be accommodated in Yale Lot 51 on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of Commencement weekend. (See directions below.) Attendants will be on hand to provide access.

Most other University lots will be open to the public from 4:00 pm Friday, May 23, through Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day). Satellite parking with wheelchair-accessible shuttle service to Old Campus is available on the morning of Commencement from 7:30 to 9:45 am from the Prospect Street parking garage behind Ingalls Rink hockey arena. While the Prospect Street parking garage will be open over Commencement weekend, please note that shuttle service to Old Campus is offered on Monday only.

See Parking for lot locations and directions to Prospect Street parking garage.

Directions to Lot 51 (vehicles must display handicapped tag or plate)
From Interstate 95 north or south, take exit for I-91 North toward Hartford-Springfield. From I-91 North, take Exit 3, Trumbull Street. Stay in the middle land as exiting and continue straight on Trumbull Street through two stoplights (at Orange Street and Whitney Avenue). At third stoplight, turn left onto Temple Street. Continue to stoplight at intersection of Grove and Temple. Cross Grove Street and then cross Wall Street. The entrance to Lot 51 is just beyond Wall Street on the right.

Transportation
Wheelchair-accessible vans and other transport vehicles are on call 24 hours on Commencement weekend. To schedule, call 203 432-6330. Please call 30 minutes before desired pick-up.

Although shuttles are available to take Commencement guests to diploma ceremonies, the streets surrounding Old Campus are extremely congested. Guests of colleges and schools at a distance from Old Campus may find it convenient to reserve a complimentary wheelchair for older family members. To reserve, contact Lauralee Field, lauralee.field@yale.edu, 203 432-2317, by May 1.

Some professional schools reserve buses to take their Commencement guests to diploma ceremonies. These buses will be parked on College Street, facing north. Check "Schedule" section for professional school or contact dean's office for details. 

Seating for Commencement, Old Campus 
Old Campus is a relatively flat, grassy rectangle with accessible entrances on College and High Streets. On the morning of Commencement, an additional entrance is available to wheelchair users and their family members. This entrance, located on High Street near the Yale Post Office, leads to an area of reserved seating for wheelchair users and all accompanying family members. A small LED screen is available for better viewing of the Commencement ceremony. Directly across the street from the wheelchair entrance is an accessible portable restroom.

Seating for Class Day, Old Campus 
Class Day, which takes place on the Sunday before Commencement, is intended primarily for undergraduates and their guests. Because many more seats are available on Old Campus for Class Day than Commencement, there is no reserved seating for families with wheelchair users. 

Rain
Unless weather conditions are dangerous or severe, Commencement and Class Day will take place outside on Old Campus, although processions and programs may be shortened.

Guests in wheelchairs and all accompanying family members may view simulcasts of Class Day and Commencement in Linsly Chittenden Hall, 61 High Street. Battell Chapel is available to the general public for simulcasts of both ceremonies.

Diploma ceremonies in some residential colleges and schools may be moved to alternative locations listed in the section "Rain." All other diploma ceremonies will take place under courtyard tents or in previously announced interior locations.

Simulcast
Commencement and Class Day are broadcast live on Yale cable television and the local Comcast channel. Many residential colleges and schools make provisions for guests to watch the Old Campus proceedings in classrooms or common rooms. Check with the master's office in the residential colleges or the dean's office in the professional schools for viewing locations.

Access Map
Click here for a campus assess map.