How to Book an Event

Events and Rates at Rockefeller and Bond Chapels

You’ll find below information about scheduling University-affiliated weddings, memorials, other University events, student events, and external events. Please review this information and then, if you wish to inquire about Rockefeller or Bond Chapel availability for an event, contact us.

For general event requests, including student needs, in scheduling events at Rockefeller or Bond, please use the event request form or contact Mike Boyman.

For weddings, please review the weddings page, and write weddings@uchicago.edu. For departmental memorials, public tours or inquiries about the architecture, and alumni site visits, contact Matthew Dean, director, University Chapels. For student and community spiritual events, contact Jigna Shah, director of spiritual life. For choral activities, contact James Kallembach, director of Chapel music. For the organ, contact Thomas Weisflog, University organist.

See also the notes below about photography.

Weddings

Please review in detail the information on our weddings page.

Memorials

With the growing scale of the University constituency, we are typically only able to take memorial ceremonies brought to us by (sponsored and organized by) departments, rather than immediate family funerals. Such memorials for alumni, staff and faculty are typically organized at least one month and often one quarter in advance to facilitate planning and attendance at a time the campus can convene. Please contact the closest affiliated department of the family member to ascertain if a sponsored memorial can be scheduled.

Memorials are normally held during the main academic year (October through May), and are most often scheduled at Bond Chapel on Thursday or Friday late afternoons or Saturday mornings, or at Rockefeller Chapel on Thursday or Friday daytimes or Saturdays earlier in the day. The sponsoring department can reach Matthew Dean for intake.

Customary memorial reservations are three hours (one hour for setup, 70-95 minutes for the ceremony, the remainder for reset) and charged at the standard departmental rate ($385 per hour or $1155 total; see below for details) after the completion of the memorial. The services of our organist, coordinator, sound system operator, and custodian are included. The sponsoring department is responsible for organizing the program content, printing the booklet, and publicizing the event. Note: City of Chicago and State of Illinois memorials with VIP involvement, short notice, and special technical requirements are charged at the Civic Engagement rate below ($800 per hour at Rockefeller and $500 per hour at Bond). 

Associate dean Shaundra Cunningham may be reached directly if desired as a presider or speaker, or if the memorial or funeral request is urgent in nature.

Since food is not easily accommodated at either Chapel, receptions should be organized by separate reservation at nearby buildings where applicable – often Ida Noyes Hall or the Quadrangle Club for Rockefeller Chapel memorials, and Swift Hall for memorials at Bond Chapel.

Departmental Events (Internal)

All activities at Rockefeller and Bond Chapels are reviewed for University affiliation standards. Priority in booking is given to divisional and departmental activities: academic ceremonies, lectures, faculty/staff memorials, faculty-produced or center-produced concerts or arts activities, staff recognition events, Admissions events, and University-produced alumni events.

The standard departmental charge for the University Chapels (Rockefeller or Bond) is $385 per hour. (For events booked prior to 5/31/24, the prior rate of $350 per hour applies). This covers staff time in active event management and planning, building overhead including custodial, instrument tunings, basic public address audio, and perimeter security (CBORD ID swipe access is activated for departmental event representatives at the time of an event). Our chapel administrator will invoice or initiate a transfer, after the event (often at the end of a given academic quarter or year), using the University account number that you provide. Contact Irene Claude (iclaude@uchicago.edu) for invoicing questions.

Additional fees will apply for more complex audio needs, VIP security, livestreaming support, or if both the organist and carillonist are required (as for end-of-year ceremonies and memorials). 

Meeting rooms at Rockefeller Chapel and Spiritual Life (at Ida Noyes) may be booked only by faculty, staff, or students associated with Rockefeller or Spiritual Life programming. At Rockefeller, calendar availability is limited by events involving the full building. The prayer and meditation rooms at Rockefeller and Spiritual Life may be used by individual students whose ID has been activated for CBORD access.

Student Events

We welcome inquiries from student groups and individual students (currently enrolled in degree-granting programs at the University of Chicago) about events that might be suited to Rockefeller or Bond Chapel. Please be in touch with Mike Boyman to discuss ideas.

Please plan requests at least one quarter in advance. We are only rarely able to accept same-quarter requests from individuals and ensembles.

The standard student fee for booking either chapel is a one-time $385 fee for reasonably brief events without advance rehearsal needs, payable after the event by transfer from a student organization account or check to Rockefeller Chapel. You may charge and keep admission fees if applicable. For events longer than three hours or with complex technical or logistical components (as determined on a case-by-case basis by Rockefeller staff), the standard departmental rate of $385 per hour will apply. Support can be sought from Student Government, UChicago Arts Grants, or other sources with advance planning, and such requests are welcome to refer to this page.

University of Chicago student photography or mobile filming (for projects, involving hand-held cameras only) is usually allowable during normal business hours by arrangement with Matthew Dean.

We cannot accommodate photography and filming requests from students of other institutions, or from other unaffiliated parties. Professional photography of costumed persons, as for weddings and promotions, or any posed or commercial photography, is strictly reserved for University-affiliated parties with paid event reservations. See our Visit Us page for further details. Drones are not currently permitted under any circumstances, interior or exterior, on University property, except when operated by University Communications.

External Events

Rockefeller and Bond Chapels are available on a limited basis to external entities, excluding other academic institutions. Such organizations must generally offer priority event access to University students (to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis) and resonate with University Chapels and University of Chicago mission.

• Those organizations reserving through or presented by the Office of Civic Engagement (as for City of Chicago or State of Illinois events) receive a rate of $800 per hour at Rockefeller and $500 per hour Bond Chapel plus the cost of any special work orders incurred (as for special technical requirements). 
• External for-profit organizations or major nonprofit presenters (such as media stations or festivals anticipating significant ticketed turnouts) and reserving directly with the Chapels are charged $1000 per hour at Rockefeller Chapel and $500 at Bond Chapel.
• Select perennial small arts organization partners with minimal technical requirements and high degree of resonance with academic, spiritual, interfaith, or a cappella principles may be eligible for a reduction in charged hours, or the use of the internal rate ($385 per hour), as reviewed by Rockefeller staff including the Director of Chapel Music on a case-by-case basis.

We are currently unable to accommodate unaffiliated weddings and family-organized memorials or funerals (memorials are coordinated by University departments).

National musical organizations with which Rockefeller Chapel is affiliated (the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America) and local professional arts organizations may approach James Kallembach (for choral or vocal events), Thomas Weisflog (for organ), or Alex Johnson (for carillon) for meeting and performance considerations. Generally, opportunities for outside groups are via inclusion on existing Chapel-produced recital series, or collaborations with other University departments. Religious orders and organizations should reach Dean Maurice Charles. All others should reach us via the event request form.

National and international professional ensembles and performers are presented on campus by the University of Chicago Presents. See also the University of Chicago Folk Festival and the Major Activities Board.