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Connecticut College to hold 90th Commencement May 18
May 05, 2008
Nearly 500 Connecticut College students will receive their diplomas this year at the college´s 90th commencement on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m.
A crowd of more than 4,000 is expected at the event, which will be held on the College Green on campus. In case of rain, it will take place in Palmer Auditorium.
Public radio and television host, author, philanthropist and advocate Tavis Smiley will give the keynote address. Smiley hosts the late night television show "Tavis Smiley" on PBS. His radio show, "The Tavis Smiley Show," is distributed through Public Radio International, and he is the author of 11 books, including his most recent, "What I know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America." Smiley will also receive an honorary doctor of humane letters from the college.
President Leo I. Higdon Jr. and Lynda Batter Munro ´76 P´08, president of the Alumni Association, will address the newest alumni. Amanda Barrett of Lake Forest, Ill., president of the senior class, and Katherine Serafin of Carmel, N.Y., will also address their peers.
For the 16th year, each graduate will be presented with a white pine sapling during Commencement exercises. The sapling represents the tree on the College seal and each student´s continuing connection to the College. Since the first year of the tradition, more than 6,000 saplings have been distributed.
A brunch for all Connecticut College community members and guests will be held on Library Green after the ceremony.
Other commencement-related events will take place on Saturday, May 17. The schedule is as follows:
- 10 a.m., Phi Beta Kappa Ceremony, John C. Evans Hall, Cummings Arts Center. Seniors who have shown exemplary academic scholarship over four years of college will be inducted into the Delta of Connecticut chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the national honors society in liberal arts.
- 11:30 a.m., Athletic Awards Banquet, 1962 Room in the College Center at Crozier-Williams. The banquet honors graduating scholar-athletes.
- 1 p.m., Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy certificate ceremony, 1941 Room in the College Center at Crozier-Williams.
- 1:30 p.m., Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies certificate ceremony, Ernst Common Room of the Blaustein Humanities Center.
- 2 p.m., Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts certificate ceremony, Harkness Chapel.
- 2:30 p.m., Ammerman Center for Arts & Technology certificate ceremony, Charles Chu Asian Arts Reading Room.
- 4 p.m., Baccalaureate, with a keynote address by David C. Dorfman, the William Meredith Associate Professor of Dance, and David Kyuman Kim, inaugural director of the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity and assistant professor of religious studies, Palmer Auditorium.
- 6 p.m., Legacy reception for graduating seniors with alumni relatives, Ernst Common Room of the Blaustein Humanities Center.
- 8 p.m. - 1 a.m., "One Year Out Reunion" for the members of the Connecticut College class of 2007, Tansill Theater.
- 9 p.m., Family Gala for graduating seniors and their parents, College Center at Crozier-Williams.
Among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 41 states, the District of Columbia and 71 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 86-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.
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For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu