How Lehigh University Eliminated Mispronunciations at Commencement

Picture this: It's commencement day at a prestigious university. Proud families fill the stadium, cameras ready to capture that magical moment when their graduate crosses the stage. The faculty member at the podium calls out what sounds like a female name with an elaborate pronunciation.

But the graduate walking across is male, and his name is actually quite simple and straightforward. Making matters worse, this particular student's father was a prominent member of the university community.

This cringe‑worthy moment was just one of many that plagued Lehigh University's commencement ceremonies before they discovered Tassel. Sara Messick, Director of University Events at Lehigh, still remembers that day vividly. "So after that and getting hit with a lot of complaints about names, I thought, we've got to look for something that's better than this."

The Old Way: Room for Improvement

Before 2020, Lehigh's name reading process faced several challenges. Sara describes the situation: "We pretty much just had faculty members come up and read the names of students. We had binders full of student names."

The process was cumbersome. Students would arrive at a check‑in tent, hunt through thick binders to find their name card, and attempt to write phonetic spellings, which backed up the lines and covered the name cards with so much ink it was tough to make out what was supposed to be read.

The ceremony itself offered little recognition for graduates. Names were simply read aloud with no coordination between the announcement and the student's actual stage crossing. "They would say the name, the person might not even have walked across yet. They might have walked across and were already going down the center aisle," Sara explains. "You may have caught your student walking on the big screen, but they didn’t get that special acknowledgement."

With Lehigh's significant international student population, the pronunciation challenges were particularly acute. Names, accents, and unfamiliar linguistic patterns left faculty members struggling and families disappointed.

The Tassel Transformation

After years of complaints and that particularly embarrassing presidential moment, Sara knew change was necessary. In 2019, following that ceremony, Lehigh began exploring solutions and ultimately signed with Tassel in 2020.

Fast forward to today, and the transformation is nothing short of remarkable. "It's phenomenal," Sara says with genuine enthusiasm. "We get to see the names come across the screen on the backend before they are read. If we see a long name or one that may be difficult to pronounce, we wait for it to be announced over the loud speaker, and then… it's spot on and read beautifully. It truly is remarkable.”

The results speak for themselves: "We have yet to get any complaints of how a name was pronounced since we've used Tassel." For a university with a diverse student body and complex international names, this represents a complete turn from their previous experience.

More Than Just Names: The Complete Experience

Lehigh implemented Tassel's Plus package, which includes the lower thirds feature—the on‑screen display of graduate information. This addition transformed the entire ceremony dynamic.

"When the name is announced, that is the cue for the student to walk on stage and look at the camera. Then their name and degree are up on the large screens," Sara explains. "They get that moment for their parents, family members, friends to shout out and get really excited. They also get their picture taken from the photographer, too."

This was the recognition moment that had been missing for years. "They get that moment, which they never had before, to be recognized."

Sara worked closely with her Tassel account manager, Angela, to perfect even the smallest details. Initially, students with dual degrees could only display one degree on screen, leading to occasional complaints from the roughly 150 dual‑degree graduates. "I worked with Angela this past year to make sure that we could include all the degrees, and we did — no more complaints there."

Behind the Scenes: Making It Work

The operational improvements extend far beyond the ceremony itself. Lehigh uses printed QR code stage passes and their backup system is robust. If a student's printed pass is damaged or forgotten, volunteers have backup labels ready. This year, they had only one unrecognized barcode issue — and it turned out the student had printed a 2024 graduation pass instead of 2025.

The system has become so reliable that technical hiccups are rare and manageable. During this year's ceremony, a cable was damaged (likely run over by setup equipment), but Sara had prepared backup cables. She was grateful for the foresight to have backups ready.

The Ripple Effects

The benefits of Tassel extend well beyond ceremony day. Sara appreciates how the system has improved overall organization and communication. "I'm able to communicate with students so much easier because I have all of them in one place" she says. "I can pull that information and the data from Tassel so easily."

The platform allows her to track who has responded, send targeted communications to non‑responders, and maintain better records. Looking ahead, Sara plans to collect cell phone numbers through the registration process to enable text message communication, recognizing that "students don't seem to read emails anymore."

She also values the post‑ceremony data for tracking actual participation..

A Professional Transformation

Perhaps the most telling comment about the transformation comes when Sara reflects on the overall impact: "It just feels more professional, to be honest. When the names are read and you see the names on the screen, it just looks like it's a well‑run show. It's finesse."

The change represents more than operational efficiency—it's about dignity, recognition, and creating a memorable experience worthy of such an important milestone. Students now engage more seriously with the graduation process, caring about deadlines and pronunciation accuracy in ways they never did before.

"Students definitely care about how their name is read," Sara observes. "They contact us if they miss the deadline." The system has created a positive feedback loop where students take ownership of their graduation experience while the university delivers on their expectations.



Looking Forward

The transformation at Lehigh represents what's possible when universities prioritize the student experience and invest in solutions that work. From a chaotic process plagued by mispronunciations and missed moments to a polished ceremony where every graduate gets their moment to shine—complete with perfect pronunciation and visual recognition—Tassel helped Lehigh create the commencement experience their students and families deserve.

As Sara puts it, reflecting on the journey: "It's awesome. I love it."