Press rules and logistics
Applying for credentials
Credentialing for Class Day and Commencement is now closed. If you have questions about press access to either event, please contact the Harvard News Office at 617-495-1585.
Harvard News Office credentials are required for press coverage of all Commencement events in Harvard Yard. Media looking to cover events at other schools within the University should contact the appropriate news office at each school.
Photo identification is required to pick up credentials. Freelance journalists must provide letters assigning them to cover a 2008 Commencement event, written on the news organization’s letterhead, when credentials are requested. Letters should be faxed attn: Commencement credentials at 617-495-0754.
Questions concerning press credentials should be directed to the Harvard News Office at 617-495-1585.
Credential pick-up
Credentials may be picked up in the Harvard Events & Information Center in the arcade level of Holyoke Center (1350 Massachusetts Avenue) on Wednesday, June 4 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and on Thursday, June 5 from 7:15 AM to 2:30 PM. Press releases, various speech texts, and general information will be available.
The Harvard News Office will staff a separate press workcenter in suite 1060 of Holyoke Center on Wednesday, June 4 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and on Thursday, June 5 from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Work areas, telephones, dataports, and closed-circuit coverage of major Commencement events will be available. A limited number of lunches, available on a first-come, first-served basis, will be available on June 5.
All media
For questions about background on Harvard and Commencement, see the background section, or contact the Harvard News Office at 617-495-1585.
All News Office-credentialed media will be admitted to Harvard Yard. Seats in Tercentenary Theater will be available on a first-come, first-served basis in section A2/SG on Class Day, and sections D1 on Commencement Day. Section B1 will be open to photographers only on Class Day and Commencement Day.
NOTE: Press staff are required to remain in the designated press areas for the duration of the ceremonies.
See the full Commencement Day press schedule.
A satellite feed of both the Harvard College Class Day and Harvard University Commencement exercises will be available Wednesday, June 4th, and Thursday, June 5, 2008. Information as to the satellite, transponder, and connection frequencies may be found below:
CLASS DAY (June 4th)
2:30pm to 4:30pm
HORIZONS 2 / TRANSPONDER 15 (KU Band Satellite)
ORBITAL SLOT -- 74 DEGREES WEST
UPLINK FREQ -- 14200.0000 (HORIZONTAL POLARITY)
DOWNLINK FREQ -- 11900.0000 (VERTICAL POLARITY)
COMMENCEMENT (June 5th)
9:30am to 12:00pm
HORIZONS 2 / TRANSPONDER 10 (KU Band Satellite)
ORBITAL SLOT -- 74 DEGREES WEST
UPLINK FREQ -- 14380.0000 (VERTICAL POLARITY)
DOWNLINK FREQ -- 12080.0000 (HORIZONTAL POLARITY)
1:45pm TO 5:00pm
HORIZONS 2 / TRANSPONDER 10 (KU Band Satellite)
ORBITAL SLOT -- 74 DEGREES WEST
UPLINK FREQ -- 14380.0000 (VERTICAL POLARITY)
DOWNLINK FREQ -- 12080.0000 (HORIZONTAL POLARITY
Broadcast media
Contact: Evan Whitney at 617-495-1585, evan_whitney@harvard.edu.
On Class Day (June 4) and Commencement Day (June 5), all television coverage inside the Tercentenary Theatre will be limited to the five-camera pool feed provided by the University. Audio and video signals will be available in the Buttrick Room in the basement of Memorial Church. The pool feed will be distributed through an audio/video distribution amplifier. Audio will be provided without voiceover commentary, and video will be provided without character generation or other IDs. There will be a monitor displaying the live broadcast for reference during both the morning and afternoon ceremonies. Reporters and technicians are responsible for their own recording devices and connectors (BNC and XLR).
On Commencement Day, there will be roped-off photo areas opposite Massachusetts Hall and the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard during the morning procession. Videographers are requested to remain in these areas and not to follow, interfere with, or cross the line of march. NOTE: Television crews interfering at any time with the procession or other Commencement activities will be subject to the immediate loss of credentials.
Parking for television trucks is available on Oxford Street on June 4 and 5, but space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Parking is not guaranteed. Please do not attempt to drive onto the Harvard campus. See the full Commencement Day press schedule.
WHRB-FM (95.3) provides independent radio coverage of Commencement and Class Day events. For information, tape copies, or permission to record off-air, contact David Elliott at de@whrb.org.
Still photographers
Contact: Justin Ide at 617-495-8837, justin_ide@harvard.edu.
The News Office's facilities for electronic photo transmission are limited. It is necessary to make arrangements for phone lines well in advance of Commencement.
Photographers may shoot from the reserved press areas in Tercentenary Theatre (sections A2/SG and B2 on Class Day, sections B1 and D1 on Commencement Day), space permitting.
No media will be permitted in the aisles of the Theatre.
There will be roped-off photo areas opposite Massachusetts Hall and the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard during the morning procession. Photographers are requested to remain in these areas and not to follow, interfere with, or cross the line of march. NOTE: Photographers interfering at any time with the procession or other Commencement activities will be subject to the immediate loss of credentials.
In case of rain, President Faust and her party will enter the Tercentenary Theatre from Widener Library at 9:30 AM. The Exercises will begin as soon as all participants and guests are seated in the Theatre. See the full Commencement Day press schedule.