Is anything prohibited to bring into stadium for commencement?

usnapamom

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Hello, I will be attending the commencement Fri. I was wondering if anything will be prohibited from bringing into the stadium, especially in light of President Trump being there. Thank you!
 
Hello, I will be attending the commencement Fri. I was wondering if anything will be prohibited from bringing into the stadium, especially in light of President Trump being there. Thank you!

Here you go, as usual, USNA.edu has the gouge:

https://www.usna.edu/CommissioningWeek/Stadium-Information/index.php

I have no doubt the firsties received an email telling them to share this info link with friends and family, but it got lost in the final push. Or they forgot.
 
Hello, I will be attending the commencement Fri. I was wondering if anything will be prohibited from bringing into the stadium, especially in light of President Trump being there. Thank you!

Here you go, as usual, USNA.edu has the gouge:

https://www.usna.edu/CommissioningWeek/Stadium-Information/index.php

I have no doubt the firsties received an email telling them to share this info link with friends and family, but it got lost in the final push. Or they forgot.
Thank you!
 
Go EARLY!!! Cannot emphasize this enough. With the President as the speaker, security will be extremely tight, meaning lines will be long. Very long. The Secret Service is there to protect the President, and they don't care if you're late to the event.

As an example, last year, when the VP was the speaker, it took AT LEAST an hour to get through security around 0800.
 
Many people do a breakfast tailgate in the parking lot. Bring in a tray of bagels and cream cheese from Naval Bagels across the street, and a fruit tray from Graul’s Food, same shopping center, a box o’ joe from Dunkin’ Donuts...you’ll see people grilling breakfast sausages and having Bloody Marys, full-on tailgate.

Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses. It can be a long, hot morning.
 
USNA1985 was reading my mind.. that was the Gouge when President Reagan attended our graduation--he had recently survived an assassination attempt and Secret Service was on high alert, so parents and family were warned about tight security. I'm sure its even tighter in today's day and age.
 
Go Early, Early, Early if President will be there. Missed an Army/Navy march on but got to watch it on a big screen while standing in line and was there two hours early. It was very, very hot at Commissioning.
 
Thanks for post. We are making plans for next year for my DD class of 2019 commissioning week. Hoping to bring my father a Navy veteran. He is very close to my DD and actually gave her a ride for her first visit to USNA for a soccer camp. He is quite a character and at the gate to enter that day whipped out his 1950's Navy ID from his monster fat wallet from which he throws out nothing. He had a stroke 2 years ago but is doing well...walks with limp but no walker or cane. Lives down the street from us. At my house every morning for coffee and gave DD rides to her high school daily. They are very close. Really want to have him come to commencement. Don't want to make the mistake of having to walk all the way around the stadium to find the right entrance. So how did you know where to enter stadium? Is there just one entrance that day? Having him at first home football game to see her march on her plebe year one of the nicest moments of my life as a parent.
 
Thanks for post. We are making plans for next year for my DD class of 2019 commissioning week. Hoping to bring my father a Navy veteran. He is very close to my DD and actually gave her a ride for her first visit to USNA for a soccer camp. He is quite a character and at the gate to enter that day whipped out his 1950's Navy ID from his monster fat wallet from which he throws out nothing. He had a stroke 2 years ago but is doing well...walks with limp but no walker or cane. Lives down the street from us. At my house every morning for coffee and gave DD rides to her high school daily. They are very close. Really want to have him come to commencement. Don't want to make the mistake of having to walk all the way around the stadium to find the right entrance. So how did you know where to enter stadium? Is there just one entrance that day? Having him at first home football game to see her march on her plebe year one of the nicest moments of my life as a parent.

There are accommodations for those with mobility issues for seating, etc. It may be in some of the info already posted. All kinds of elders and people with mobility challenges attend. One of our sponsor mids had a grandfather attend who couldn’t do all the walking, so they rented a wheelchair from a local med supply shop. The Yard, parade, graduation day, he made it to everything. Info does get provided to the mids for this situation.
 
While no one can predict the weather a year in advance, you SHOULD think about booking your accommodations so you have those locked in. Depending on how many days you plan to be in Annapolis along with your budget will determine if you rent a house or stay at a hotel. Renting is more expensive, but gives you greater flexibility for any gatherings you may want to have.

In some years it has been really HOT on the day of commencement and such weather can be taxing even for healthy/active adults. It has not been uncommon to see some people require medical attention for heat exhaustion since there is virtually no shade anywhere at the stadium and the event lasts several hours. Good to consider that in your planning if you have elderly who might want to attend. Perhaps it varies from year to year, but the public entrance nearest to the parking lot is where everyone entered on graduation day.

You can find a number of prior threads on these topics.
 
Also, in the event it rains, the number of folks who can attend the ceremony indoors is very limited. I believe they open the classroom buildings for live streaming for those who don't have tickets. USNA makes every effort to hold the event outdoors, but in rare cases (constant pouring rain, lightning), it is moved inside.
 
Go early, or go late. Lots of folks walked right in at about 9:40. Don’t tell this secret to anyone: middle lines. Gate N. 1/4 the line last year and this year.
 
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