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Lafayette will grant 579 degrees to 566 graduating seniors at the College’s 168th Commencement, Saturday, May 24.
The event will feature an address by Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and former president of Brown University and New York Public Library, and will include the awarding of four honorary degrees. The processional will begin at 2:15 p.m. and the program at 2:30 p.m.
Also scheduled for Saturday is a Baccalaureate service at 10:30 a.m. with an address by Rebecca S. Chopp, president of Colgate University.
Due to inclement weather, both the baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies will be held in Allan P. Kirby Sports Center. Luncheon following the baccalaureate service and the President’s reception following commencement exercises will be held in Kamine Gymnasium in the sports center.
Lafayette President Arthur J. Rothkopf, class of 1955, will award honorary doctorates to Gregorian (Doctor of Laws), Chopp (Doctor of Divinity), Rev. Fred Davis Sr., pastor of Easton’s Shiloh Baptist Church (Doctor of Humane Letters), and Brent D. Glass, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and a member of Lafayette’s class of 1969 (Doctor of Public Service).
Lauren Frese will deliver farewell remarks for the class of 2003. She is the recipient of the George Wharton Pepper Prize, awarded to the senior who most closely represents the “Lafayette Ideal.” Frese, of Morris Plains, N.J., is graduating with a bachelor of arts (A.B.) degree, majoring in International Affairs.
The first student to receive his diploma will be Alexandru Balan, who has the highest cumulative grade-point average in the Class of 2003. Balan, of Bucharest, Romania, will receive a bachelor of science degree in computer science and a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics-economics.
A highlight of the ceremony will be the awarding of degrees to father and daughter Ernest Stavrovsky and Janine Stavrovsky of Bethlehem. Ernest, who has pursued his Lafayette degree on a part-time basis, will receive an A.B. with a major in history and government & law. Janine will receive an A.B. with an individualized, interdisciplinary major in environmental biology.
Nicolette M. Stavrovsky, daughter of Ernest and sister of Janine, graduated from Lafayette in 2000 cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree with majors in history and English. She earned departmental honors in history and is a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the national honorary society for men and women studying history. Nicolette J. Stavrovsky, mother of Janine and Nicolette, is secretary in Lafayette’s electrical and computer engineering and computing services departments.
Lauren Hubbard, chair of the Class of 2003 gift committee, will present the class gift. Hubbard, from Rochester, N.Y., is receiving an A.B. with majors in history and art.
Four retiring faculty members who have been elected to emeritus status will be recognized by Rothkopf, Harold M. Hochman, William E. Simon Professor of Political Economy; Richard E. Sharpless, professor of history, Ralph L. Slaght, James Renwick Hogg Professor of Philosophy, and Barbara H. Young, instructor in the Department of Athletics.
Also remembered will be the late James P. Crawford. A professor of mathematics at Lafayette since 1957, he had been the current Lafayette faculty member with the longest continuous service. Crawford died May 8. A service celebrating his life and career was held today at Colton Chapel.
Two trustees elected to emeritus status will be recognized by Alan R. Griffith, class of 1964, the chair of the Board of Trustees. They are Laneta J. Dorflinger, class of 1975, and Neil J. Gagnon.
Rothkopf will confer degrees upon the graduates and will deliver farewell remarks. The degrees will be presented by Gladstone A. Hutchinson, dean of studies, and Slaght, acting clerk of the faculty.
B. Vincent Viscomi, Simon Cameron Long Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the senior member of the faculty, will lead the academic procession as Bearer of the Mace. James F. Krivoski, dean of students, will marshal the Class of 2003.
Provost June Schlueter will march at the head of the faculty. Trustee emeritus Edward A. Jesser Jr., a member of the class of 1939, will lead the trustees and the platform party.
Gary R. Miller, College chaplain, will deliver the invocation, and Chopp will give the benediction. Nina Gilbert, Lafayette’s director of choral activities, will lead the singing of “America the Beautiful.” Members of the Lafayette Choir, led by Gilbert, will lead the singing of “The Alma Mater.”