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2010 Commencement
Lafayette will grant 551 degrees to 526 graduating seniors at the College’s 176th Commencement Saturday, May 21.
The event will feature an address by Gwendolyn L. Ifill, managing editor and moderator for Washington Week and senior correspondent for The NewsHour at PBS, 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 John Colatch, College chaplain and director of religious life.
Both the Baccalaureate and Commencement ceremonies will be held on the Quad. In case of rain, they will be held in Allan P. Kirby Sports Center. If there is a change in the location for the ceremonies based on weather, the information will be available by calling (610) 330-5809.
President Daniel H. Weiss will award Ifill the honorary degree of Doctor of Journalism. Also receiving honorary degrees will be Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of College of the Holy Cross (Doctor of Humane Letters); Wilbur W. Oaks ’51, retired professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine and founder of Saint John’s Hospice Homeless Soccer Team Program, Body and Soul (Doctor of Public Service); and Salvatore J. Panto Jr., mayor of the City of Easton (Doctor of Public Service).
Ines Amenabar ’11 will deliver farewell remarks for the class of 2011. She is the recipient of the George Wharton Pepper Prize, awarded to the senior who “most closely represents the Lafayette ideal.” Amenabar, of Guatemala City, Guatemala, will graduate with an A.B. with majors in economics and government & law.
The first students to receive their diplomas will be Nicholas Barna ’11, Lauren Huyett ’11, and Cara Murphy ’11, who have achieved the highest cumulative grade-point average in the class. Barna, of Mountaintop, Pa., will receive a B.S. in chemistry; Huyett, of Blandon, Pa., will receive a B.S. in chemical engineering; and Murphy, of Providence, N.J., will receive an A.B. with majors in English and psychology.
Christina Hunt ’11, Daniel Miller ’11, and Amanda Whitbred ’11, co-chairs of the Class of 2011 Gift Committee, will present the class gift. Hunt, of Phoenixville, Pa., will receive an A.B. in government and law; Miller, of Rockville, Md., will receive a B.S. in civil engineering; and Whitbred, of Doylestown, Pa., will receive an A.B. will majors in English and philosophy.
Weiss will congratulate the recipients of annual Lafayette awards for distinguished teaching, scholarship, and service to the College and recognize William J. Collins, associate professor of computer science, and Ann V. McGillicuddy-DeLisi, Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Psychology, who are retiring and have been elected to emeritus status.
Edward W. Ahart ’69, chair of the Board of Trustees, will recognize trustees Jeffrey P. Feather ’65 and Michael H. Moskow ’59, who are retiring. Ahart will also present the Lafayette Medal for Distinguished Service to former trustee Elbern H. Alkire Jr. ’58.
Weiss will confer degrees upon the graduates and will 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.
Susan A. Basow, Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology, will lead the academic procession as Bearer of the Mace. Annette Diorio, dean of students, will marshal the class of 2011.
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 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.”