Commencement 1998: An Overview

Brown University to hold 230th Commencement Monday, May 25, 1998

Chief Marshal Willard C. Butcher '48 will lead more than 6,000 people down College Hill on Monday, May 25, forming one of the nation's largest and most colorful academic pageants. The Commencement procession and 230th academic exercises cap a four-day Commencement and Reunion Weekend at Brown. In addition to presiding at his first Brown Commencement, President E. Gordon Gee will deliver an inaugural address on Saturday, May 23, at 11:30 a.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- More than 6,000 graduates, alumni, faculty, parent educators and University guests will march down College Hill on Monday morning, May 25, 1998. Their mile-long procession, accompanied by an entourage of bagpipers, highland drummers, television cameras and marching bands, will mark the beginning of Brown University's 230th Commencement exercises.

The ceremonial Van Wickle Gates, which opened inward to admit the Class of 1998 four years ago, will swing outward for the graduates' symbolic march into the world beyond campus. Presiding over it all will be Brown's 17th president, E. Gordon Gee, who will deliver his inaugural address at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday of Commencement Weekend.

Chief marshal for Monday's procession, one of the largest and most colorful academic pageants in the nation, will be Willard C. Butcher '48, former CEO and chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank and a fellow emeritus of the Brown Corporation.

By approximately 11:15, more than 20,000 people will have found their way to The College Green for the ritual conferral of degrees by the president and chancellor. Three separate convocations will precede the University ceremony:

• Medical students will gather at 8:45 in the First Unitarian Church for their degree ceremonies and administration of the Physician's Oath by Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Donald J. Marsh, M.D.
• Graduate students will assemble for open-air ceremonies at 9:15 a.m. on Lincoln Field (behind Sayles Hall), where Dean of the Graduate School and Research Peder Estrup will preside. (In case of rain, the Graduate School's convocation will be held in the Pizzitola Sports Center.)
• Undergraduates will march to the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America, site of all Brown Commencements since 1775, for the symbolic awarding of the baccalaureate degree, beginning at 10 a.m.

In all, President Gee will deliver formal Latin salutations to approximately 1,400 baccalaureate candidates, nearly 400 candidates for advanced degrees and eight recipients of honorary degrees. Flags from more than 50 nations, representing the homelands of the Class of 1998, will be flown during the University ceremony. The University provides 16,000 folding chairs for graduates and their guests, but Commencement is usually a standing-room-only event.

Because the baccalaureate graduating class fills the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church, parents and friends of the graduates traditionally gather on The College Green to listen to a broadcast of the undergraduate ceremony and view the proceedings on a large outdoor video screen. The screen will be available for parents and guests in Meehan Auditorium in case of rain on Monday.

Speakers

By long tradition, Brown does not invite a "main" speaker to deliver a Commencement address, but asks a number of individuals, including students, to contribute remarks at the various Commencement convocations. This year's speakers will include:

• Theologian Margaret R. Miles, who will deliver the baccalaureate address on Sunday afternoon, May 24, in the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America;
• Katherine Eckstein '98 and Daniel Massey '98, who will deliver Senior Orations Monday morning, May 25, in the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America;
• Henry J. Mankin, M.D., chairman emeritus of orthopaedics at the Harvard Medical School,who will address the M.D. graduating class Monday morning, May 25, in the First Unitarian Church;
• Kevin Vigilante, M.D., a member of the Brown medical faculty, who will address the medical graduates;
• Carolyn Greene, a member of the M.D. graduating class, who has been selected to address her classmates.

Editors: A news release with brief biographies of speakers will be available from the News Bureau on May 13.

Departmental ceremonies

Receiving an undergraduate degree at Brown involves a three-step process. First, during ceremonies at the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America, President Gee will present candidates for the bachelor's degree to members of the Corporation, who will authorize him to confer the degrees. Second, during ceremonies on The College Green, Gee will confer all the degrees symbolically by presenting the degree to one representative of each degree. He will also exhort the graduates in Latin. Third, individual graduates will receive their diplomas during departmental ceremonies held at various locations on and off campus at the conclusion of the University ceremony, about 12:30 p.m. A listing of sites for these ceremonies is included in the Commencement program, distributed on campus Commencement morning.

Rain Plan

If Monday is damp or drizzly, outdoor activities proceed as scheduled. If a full-scale downpour begins, yellow pennants will be flown around campus, indicating that the rain plan is in effect. In that event, Commencement ceremonies scheduled for The College Green will take place at the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America, and the departmental ceremonies will move to rain plan sites listed in the Commencement program. Guests of undergraduates may view a large-screen video simulcast of the ceremonies at Meehan Auditorium.

Reunions

More than 4,000 Brown alumni, alumnae, friends and family will return to the campus to participate in several days of reunion celebration which surround Commencement. Further information on reunion activities is available from the Commencement/Reunion hotline: 401/863-7000.

The Commencement/Reunion Schedule

For directions to the Brown University campus, dial 401/863-1600.

Friday, May 22

• "Bring a Book To Brown" is a public service project in which returning alumni, parents and guests of the University bring new children's books, appropriate for grades 3 through 6. Books will be collected at Reunion registration centers.
• "All in the Timing," by David Ives, directed by Alexandra Litow '98, will be presented in Leeds Theatre at 8 p.m. Call (401) 863-2838 for ticket information.
• "Ophelia's Cotillion," will be presented by Rites & Reason Theatre in the George Houston Bass Auditorium at 8 p.m. Call (401) 863-3558 for ticket information.
• Campus Dance, from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. on The College Green, will feature music by the Duke Belaire Orchestra. Student bands will perform on Lincoln Field, with soothing jazz near Carrie Tower.
• Senior Sing, a traditional feature at the Campus Dance, takes place at midnight on the steps of Sayles Hall.

Saturday, May 23

• A leisurely alumni jog through the East Side will begin at 9 a.m. near the Brown Stadium.
• Commencement Forums, presentations on a variety of topics by internationally respected speakers, take place all day, from 9:00 a.m. until 5 p.m. Twenty-seven forums are scheduled, all open without charge to campus guests and the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The Inaugural Address will be delivered by Brown's 17th President E. Gordon Gee, whose formal installation as president will begin at 11:30 a.m. on The College Green. (Earlier this year, Gee announced he would forgo a traditional Inaugural Weekend which had been scheduled for late April, in favor of addressing students, parents, alumni and friends at Commencement.)
• The annual Carl and Dorothy O. Jagolinzer Memorial Recital, featuring solo and ensemble musical performances by graduating seniors, begins at 3 p.m.
• The Class of 1998 College Honors Convocation begins at 4:30 p.m. in Lincoln Field (rain site: Pizzitola Memorial Sports Center). President Gee and Dean of the College Kenneth Sacks will offer remarks, and Dennis Hogan, the Robert E. Turner Distinguished Professor of Population Studies, will deliver the keynote address.
• Alumni field day will be held from noon until 4 p.m. in the Wendell R. Erickson Athletic Complex (Aldrich-Dexter Field), featuring music, games and amusements.
• "All in the Timing," by David Ives, directed by Alexandra Litow '98, will be presented in Leeds Theatre at 8 p.m. Call (401) 863-2838 for ticket information.
• "Ophelia's Cotillion," will be presented by Rites & Reason Theatre at the George Houston Bass Auditorium at 8 p.m. Call (401) 863-3558 for ticket information.
• The annual Pops Concert, featuring Ray Charles and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, will take place from 9 to 11 p.m. on The College Green.

Sunday, May 24

• "An Hour with the President," a long-standing Commencement tradition, features informal remarks by President Gee, with questions from alumni and parents. It begins at 10 a.m. in Lincoln Field.
• University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson will officiate at the All Class Memorial Service to celebrate the lives of deceased classmates, 11:15 a.m. in Sayles Hall.
• "The Alumni Waterfront Festival" will allow Reunion and Commencement guests of the University to explore Waterplace Park and the Providence waterfront. Special music and activities are planned beginning at 1 p.m., all of them open to the public. After dusk, the Brown Alumni Association will sponsor the season's first production of "WaterFire," the dramatic multimedia fire installation by Barnaby Evans '75.
• The 1998 Baccalaureate Service begins at about 1 p.m. in the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America. The service is preceded by an academic procession at 12:45 p.m. Theologian Margaret R. Miles will deliver the baccalaureate address; family and friends may listen to the address on The College Green.
• "Ophelia's Cotillion," will be presented by Rites & Reason Theatre at the George Houston Bass Auditorium at 4 p.m. Call (401) 863-3558 for ticket information.
• The Brown University Chorus and Chamber Singers (L. Frederick Jodry, director) will present a Commencement Benefit Concert at 7 p.m. at St. Stephen's Church, 114 George St.
• "All in the Timing," by David Ives, directed by Alexandra Litow '98, will be presented in Leeds Theatre at 8 p.m. Call (401) 863-2838 for ticket information.
• The Brown University Jazz Band and jazz alumni (Matthew McGarrell, director) will present a Commencement Benefit Concert at 8 p.m. in Room 101 of the Salomon Center for Teaching.
• Third Annual Reunion Organ Concert, presented by University Organist Mark Steinbach, will begin at 10 p.m. in Sayles Hall.

Monday, May 25

• The 1998 Commencement Procession will be led this year by Chief Marshal Willard C. Butcher '48. It will be more than a mile long, will involve more than 6,000 people, and will begin forming on The College Green at 7:30 a.m.
• The Medical School Convocation will begin at 8:45 a.m. in the First Unitarian Church.
• The Graduate School Convocation will begin at 9:15 a.m. in Lincoln Field.
• The Undergraduate Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America, site of Brown Commencements since 1775.
• The University ceremony will begin at approximately 11:15 a.m. on The College Green.
• Graduating seniors receive their diplomas at departmental ceremonies immediately following the academic exercises on The College Green.