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Lafayette will grant 612 degrees to 585 graduating seniors at the College’s 177th Commencement Saturday, May 19.
2011 Commencement
The event will feature an address by Garry Marshall, the award-winning television and film director, writer, producer, and actor, and will include the awarding of four honorary degrees. The processional will begin at 2:15 p.m. with the program starting at 2:30 p.m. Also scheduled for Saturday is a Baccalaureate service at 10:30 a.m. with a sermon by Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, director of the Department of Multifaith Studies and Initiatives and associate professor of religious studies at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Wyncote, Pa.
The Commencement website has information for parents. Check back throughout the weekend for articles, videos, and photos covering the festivities. The Baccalaureate and Commencement ceremonies are scheduled to be held on the Quad. In case of rain, one or both ceremonies may be held in Allan P. Kirby Sports Center. If there is a change in the location for either ceremony based on the weather, that information will be available by calling (610) 330-5809.
President Daniel H. Weiss will award Marshall the honorary degree of Doctor of Arts. Also receiving honorary degrees will be John and Marianne Loose, the founders of Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation (each receiving a Doctor of Public Service) and Barry Sleckman ’83, a noted immunologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (Doctor of Science).
Caitlin M. Flood ’12 will deliver farewell remarks for the Class of 2012. She is the recipient of the George Wharton Pepper Prize, awarded to the senior who “most closely represents the Lafayette ideal.” Flood, of Bellrose Terrace, N.Y., will graduate with a bachelor of arts degree with majors in government & law and philosophy.
The first students to receive their diplomas will be Megan Feeney ’12, Julie Martin ’12, Oleksiy Onishchenko ’12, Megan Schultz ’12, and Ming Yan ’12, who have achieved the highest cumulative grade-point average in the class. Feeney, of Webster, N.Y., will receive a bachelor of arts degree with a major in philosophy; Martin, of Riverton, N.J., will receive a bachelor of arts degree with a major in psychology; Onishchenko, of Chernihiv, Ukraine, will receive a bachelor of science in biology and a bachelor of arts degree with a major in chemistry; Schultz, of Dillsburg, Pa., will receive a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering; and Yan, of Yangzhou, China, will receive a bachelor of science in chemistry.
Thomas J. Bolt ’12 and Kurumi Fukushima ’12, chairs of the Class of 2012 Gift Committee, will present the class gift. Bolt, of Orchard Park, N.Y., will graduate with a bachelor of arts degree with majors in English and an individualized, interdisciplinary major in classics. Fukushima, of Glen Ridge, N.J., will receive a bachelor of arts degree with a major in international affairs.
Weiss will congratulate the recipients of annual Lafayette awards for distinguished teaching, scholarship, and service to the College and recognize Helen V. Dungan, cataloging librarian; Charles W. Holliday, professor of biology; J. Ronald Martin, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; and Arnold A. Offner, Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History, who are retiring and have been elected to emeritus status.
Read about the retiring faculty
Edward W. Ahart ’69, chair of the Board of Trustees, will recognize trustees Richard A. Grossman ’64, Jefferson W. Kirby ’84, and Walter Oechsle ’57.
Weiss will confer degrees upon the graduates and will deliver farewell remarks. Assisting in presenting diplomas will be Rose Marie L. Bukics, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of Economics and acting clerk of the faculty, and Hannah W. Stewart-Gambino, dean of the College.
Guy L. Hovis, John H. Markle Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, will lead the academic procession as Bearer of the Mace. The mace is carried by the faculty member senior in rank of full professor. Jodie A. Frey, interim dean of students, will marshal the Class of 2012.
Wendy L. Hill, provost and dean of the faculty, will march at the head of the faculty. Thomas F. McGrail ’55, trustee emeritus, will lead the trustees and the platform party.
John P. Colatch, chaplain of the College and director of religious and spiritual life, will deliver the invocation and give the benediction. Jennifer W. Kelly, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities, will lead the singing of “America the Beautiful.” Members of the Lafayette Choir, led by Kelly, will lead the singing of “The Alma Mater.”