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Lafayette will grant 556 degrees to 538 graduating seniors at the College’s 172nd Commencement Saturday, May 19.
The event will feature an address by historian Michael Beschloss and will include the awarding of five 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 a sermon by the Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University and Pusey Minister in Harvard’s Memorial Church.
Lafayette President Daniel Weiss will award honorary doctorates to Beschloss (Doctor of Letters), Gomes (Doctor of Divinity), Michael H. Moskow ’59, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Doctor of Public Service), Easton-based documentary filmmaker Lou Reda (Doctor of Arts), and artist and author Faith Ringgold (Doctor of Fine Arts).
Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the Board of Trustees, will present the Lafayette Medal for Distinguished Service to John W. Landis ’39, retired president of Gulf General Atomic Co. and Stone & Webster Engineering Corp. The medal is the College’s premier award for volunteers, given to those who have a demonstrated record of voluntary service in a variety of areas with noteworthy achievement in each. It will be accepted by Landis’ nephew, William L. Landis ’71.
Danielle Bero ’07 will deliver farewell remarks for the class of 2007. She is the recipient of the George Wharton Pepper Prize, awarded to the senior who “most closely represents the Lafayette ideal.” Bero, of Astoria, N.Y., is graduating with a bachelor of arts (A.B.) degree with an individualized, interdisciplinary major in creative media and social justice.
The first student to receive his diploma will be Haotian Wu ’07, who achieved the highest cumulative grade-point average in the class. Wu, of Suzhou, Jinagsu, China will receive two bachelor of science degrees, one in physics and one in mathematics.
Matthew Potter ’07 and Carli Siger ’07, co-chairs of the Class of 2007 Gift Committee, will present the class gift. Potter, of Bethlehem, Pa., is receiving an A.B. with a major in government and law. Siger, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is receiving an A.B. with a major in English.
Weiss will congratulate recipients of annual Lafayette awards for distinguished teaching, scholarship, and service to the College and recognize Ann L. Gold, instructor of athletics and head coach of field hockey, who is retiring after 25 years at Lafayette and has been elected to emerita status.
Griffith will recognize three retiring trustees who have been elected to emeritus status, Robert L. Yohe ’58, vice chair of the board; Nancy Brennan Lund ’74, and William P. Rutledge ’63.
Weiss will confer degrees upon the graduates and will deliver farewell remarks. Assisting in the presenting of diplomas will be James Woolley, Frank Lee and Edna M. Smith Professor of English and clerk of the faculty, and Rose Marie L. Bukics, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of Economics and Business and acting dean of studies.
Guy L. Hovis, John H. Markle Professor of Geology, the faculty member who is senior in the rank of full professor, will lead the academic procession as Bearer of the Mace. James F. Krivoski, vice president for student affairs, will marshal the class of 2007.
Anthony M. Cummings, provost and dean of the faculty, will march at the head of the faculty. Trustee Emeritus Mark B. Weisburger ’55 will lead the trustees and the platform party.
John P. Colatch, College chaplain and director of religious 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.”