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Lafayette will grant 573 degrees to 555 graduating seniors at the College’s 174th Commencement Saturday, May 23.The event will feature an address by pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr. 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 a sermon by John Colatch, director of religious life and College chaplain.
President Daniel H. Weiss will award Carson the honorary degree of Doctor of Science. Also receiving honorary degrees will be Elliot J. Sussman, president and chief executive officer of Lehigh Valley Health Network (Doctor of Public Service); Nechama Tec, Holocaust scholar and author (Doctor of Humane Letters); and Trustee Emeritus Riley K. Temple ’71, a principal in the Washington, D.C., strategic consulting firm Temple Strategies (Doctor of Laws).
Nicholas Albano ’09 will deliver farewell remarks for the Class of 2009. He is the recipient of the George Wharton Pepper Prize, awarded to the senior who “most closely represents the Lafayette ideal.” Albano, of Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., will graduate with a B.S. in biology.
The first student to receive her diploma will be Rachel Heron ’09, who achieved the highest cumulative grade-point average in the class. Heron, of Downingtown, Pa., will receive an A.B. with majors in English and geology.
Nicholas Diaz ’09, Caitlin Sorenson ’09, and Gabriel Walker ’09, co-chairs of the Class of 2009 Gift Committee, will present the class gift. Diaz, of Staten Island, N.Y., will receive an A.B. in English. Sorenson, of Round Rock, Texas, will receive an A.B. with majors in government & law and international affairs. Walker, of Malvern, Pa., will receive an A.B. with a major in psychology.
Weiss congratulated the recipients of annual Lafayette awards for distinguished teaching, scholarship, and service to the College and recognize Stephen Lammers, Helen H.P. Manson Professor of the English Bible; Ronald Robbins, associate dean of the College; and Edmond Seifried, professor of economics and business, who are retiring and have been elected to emeritus status.
Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the Board of Trustees, will recognize trustees S. Robert Beane Jr. ’58 and George F. Rubin ’64, who are retiring and have been elected to emeritus status.
Weiss will confer degrees upon the graduates and deliver farewell remarks. Assisting in presenting diplomas will be Susan Niles, professor of anthropology and clerk of the faculty, and Hannah W. Stewart-Gambino, dean of the College.
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 2009.
Wendy L. Hill, provost and dean of the faculty, will march at the head of the faculty. President Emeritus Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55 will lead the trustees and the platform party.
Colatch 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.