How LIM College Orchestrates Commencement at Lincoln Center

In the heart of Midtown Manhattan, LIM College faces a unique challenge that most institutions never encounter: orchestrating a flawless commencement ceremony at one of the world's most prestigious venues – Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. For Cody Ward, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, this means managing what he describes as an "all‑encompassing" project that "consumes my life for the spring semester."

But despite the complexity and high‑stakes venue, LIM College has developed a well‑oiled machine for commencement – a collaborative campus‑wide effort that ensures every graduate's moment in the spotlight is perfectly executed.

The Challenge of Managing Moving Parts

When Cody stepped into his role at LIM College two years ago, he inherited a complex orchestration involving dozens of people, multiple systems, and countless details that all had to align perfectly on graduation day.

"The biggest challenge is there are so many moving parts," Cody explains. "There are so many pieces. There's just a lot going on."

As someone who oversees five major areas – housing and residential life, DEI work, student conduct, accessibility and accommodations, and commencement – Cody understands complexity. But commencement stands apart in its scope and intensity. Unlike other programs that run throughout the year, commencement demands perfection on a single day, in front of families who have traveled from around the world to celebrate their graduate's achievement.

The venue adds another layer of complexity. Located in Midtown Manhattan without a space large enough for their ceremony, LIM College must coordinate with Lincoln Center – a venue known for hosting world‑class performances, not graduation ceremonies. Everything from technical requirements to logistics must be planned months in advance.

Implementing Tassel in a High‑Stakes Environment

LIM College uses Tassel's Expert package, primarily leveraging the full‑screen slideshow capabilities and name announcement features. Their approach reflects both their venue constraints and their commitment to honoring every graduate, whether present or not.

For name announcements, the college uses printed cards that are scanned as students cross the stage, triggering the audio pronunciation and displaying their information. Students are organized by field of study rather than alphabetically, allowing for a more personalized flow that reflects their academic journey.



The Power of Campus‑Wide Collaboration

What sets LIM College apart is their approach to commencement as a truly collaborative effort. While Cody leads a task force of about a dozen people, the reality on commencement day is that "literally everyone is on campus. Everyone has a role."

This campus‑wide involvement creates what external observers describe as a seamless operation. "That's the feedback that we got – that everything seemed to run smoothly," Cody notes, though he's quick to add the perspective of someone at the center of the coordination: "As the person who's like in the center of this chaos, I see all the little things."

When commencement day arrived, everything functioned exactly as designed. "Everything worked just like it should," he says. "It was great. It was really smooth and flawless."

Looking Forward

As LIM College continues to refine their commencement process, they do so from a position of strength. Their combination of innovative communication strategies, thoughtful ceremony design, and campus‑wide collaboration has created a model that other institutions could learn from.

The success isn't just measured in smooth technical execution, but in the experience they create for graduates and families. Every name pronounced correctly, every graduate honored appropriately, every family able to celebrate their loved one's achievement – these are the outcomes that matter most.

For Cody, the transformation from anxiety to confidence reflects not just his own growth, but the reliability of the systems and partnerships LIM College has built. "We were really happy with it," he concludes simply – words that carry the weight of a successful ceremony at one of the world's most demanding venues.