Cornell President Martha E. Pollack issued the following statement April 30:

Late yesterday, New York state released updated public health guidance for commencement ceremonies. In particular, where we were previously limited to using only 20% of the capacity in Schoellkopf Field, we are now permitted to use up to 33%, with our graduating students seated separately and not counting towards that total. (Please note that the 33% limit previously applied to sporting events only, not to commencement ceremonies). I am excited to let you know that this means that it is now feasible for us to accommodate a limited number of guests at the Commencement ceremonies. 

Each graduate will receive two non-transferable tickets to enable two guests to attend one of the in-person celebrations.

As you can imagine, there are many logistics still to be worked out. Please be patient as we work to adjust our plans over the coming weeks. Additional information – including how tickets will be distributed, state-mandated public health and safety protocols that will need to be followed, and other important information – will be communicated directly with graduates as soon as the details are available.

I wish that we had been able to announce this sooner, but it was literally just yesterday that the regulations changed and made guest attendance at Commencement possible.