<p>My parents just stayed in Monroeville during my graduation (where they stayed most of the times they visited). You may also want to try looking for hotels downtown since their rates might not be as influenced by the happenings farther east on Forbes. There’s a ton of buses you can take to get from anywhere downtown to CMU, so you wouldn’t have to pay the $$$ for parking overnight/@CMU.</p>
<p>We went out for a small family dinner the night before graduation and a bigger one the night of graduation. You don’t want to be out late the night before since you really need to get to campus early if you want a parking spot. I think most stuff going on around campus finished by 1-2, as well, but I think exactly when your graduation ceremonies and what sorts of things they do depends on your department. Mine had a small private ceremony where they talked about each student graduating and what they were planning on doing afterwards (we had about 15 people in the department that year). It was followed up by a reception for professors, graduates, and their families that was pretty fun.</p>