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Parking & Seating

Ceremony Parking

Use the visitor parking map (pdf) or virtual campus map for directions to all lots below. Parking is free on campus in all visitor lots.

Guest parking: Van Noord Arena

  • If entering campus from Burton Street or the East Beltline, use Lots 1–5. 
  • If entering from Lake Drive, use Lot 8. (Note: Lot 7 is closed due to construction.) 
  • Lot 6 will be reserved for those with accessibility needs and handicapped parking tags.
  • The south circle drive will be open for drop-offs. 
  • Overflow parking will be available at the Prince Conference Center (Lots 14-16) or in Lot 13. 

Please leave time to walk from your parking location to the Fieldhouse. While we have enough parking to accommodate all guests, we recommend you plan for 15 minutes to navigate busy lots and walk to the arena.

Guest parking: Covenant Fine Arts Center (CFAC)

  • Please park in Lots 9–10. There are several spaces by the north and south entrances reserved for handicapped parking. 
  • You may also park by the Prince Conference Center and take Calvin's Crossing over to the CFAC.

Graduate, Faculty, and Staff parking

  • Please park in the Prince Center lot (Lots 15–16) and walk from there in order to provide enough parking spaces for all our guests.

Accessible parking and entrances

  • Lot 6 is reserved for those with accessibility needs and handicapped parking tags.
  • The south circle drive will be open for drop-offs. 
  • Van Noord Arena: Enter the main lobby from the south entrance near North Hall (preferred) where there is a wheelchair ramp. The north entrance (near parking lot 7) is also on the main building level. There is an elevator inside the west entrance.
  • Covenant Fine Arts Center: Use the north or south entrance.
  • For more information about accessible entrances, see the campus accessibility map (pdf).

Seating

Doors will open one hour prior to the start of the ceremony, at 1 p.m. EST.

General admission

All seating is general admission. Seats in the upper bowl have backs; seats in the lower bowl are bleachers.

Accessible seating

Graduates should request accessible seating for their guests on their ticket order form (Commencement checklist). All other accommodation requests should be made by April 12 to commencement@calvin.edu. 

The Van Noord Arena has steep steps; the CFAC is the preferred venue for those who need softer seats or shorter distances to walk.

  • Van Noord Arena: Specific seats in the lower three rows of the arena’s upper bowl have been assigned for guests who requested accessible seats in advance. These seats are only for the person needing accessible seating and one guest. Additional family members are assigned to general admission seating. At ticket pick-up, graduates will receive pink tickets for these seats and specific instructions on where to find them.
  • Covenant Fine Arts Center: Specific accessible seats will be assigned for those who request them in advance

Accommodations

Audio accommodations

  • The Covenant Fine Arts Center has a Loop hearing aid audio system available. The arena has limited Loop audio available only in the upper bowl on the west end (the end near the main lobby) in sections 209–215.
  • Closed captioning will be available on the live video feed and on the screens in the arena.

Visual accommodations

  • The sign language interpreter will be on the SE upper corner of the arena—the right side as you are facing the stage, near section 204.
  • A limited number of large-print programs will be available at the information desks in the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex and the Covenant Fine Arts Center's west lobby.

Wheelchairs

  • A limited number of wheelchairs will be available for the Commencement ceremony and the Commencement reception upon request at the information desk in the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex.

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