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Distributed May 7, 2001 For Immediate Release |
News Service Contact: Mark Nickel
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A Commencement Overview Brown University to hold 233rd Commencement Monday, May 28 Chief Marshal Paul Nadler ’51 will lead more than 6,000 people down College Hill on Monday, May 28, 2001, in one of the nation’s largest and most colorful academic pageants. The Commencement procession academic exercises cap a four-day Commencement/Reunion Weekend at Brown. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — More than 6,000 graduates, alumni, faculty, parent educators and University guests will march down College Hill on Monday morning, May 28, 2001. 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 233rd Commencement exercises, capping a four-day Commencement/Reunion Weekend. Editors: A calendar for the weekend is included at the end of this release. Additional Commencement news releases (honorary degree recipients, Commencement forums, concerts and events, etc.) will be distributed during the next two weeks. Please contact the News Service (401-863-2476) or consult the News Service Web site – www.brown.edu/news – for updates. The ceremonial Van Wickle Gates, which opened inward to admit the Class of 2001 four years ago, will swing outward for the graduates’ symbolic march into the world beyond Brown. Chief marshal for Monday morning’s procession, one of the largest and most colorful academic pageants in the nation, will be Paul Nadler, Class of 1951, a professor of finance and economics at Rutgers University. The procession steps off at 8:30 a.m., led by candidates for medical degrees, then graduate degrees, then bachelor’s degrees. Three separate convocations precede the full University ceremony on The College Green:
By approximately 11:15, more than 15,000 people will have found their way to The College Green for the University’s Commencement exercises and the ritual conferral of degrees by the president and chancellor. In all, President Blumstein will deliver formal Latin salutations to approximately 1,500 baccalaureate candidates, 520 candidates for advanced degrees and nine candidates for honorary degrees. Flags from 57 nations, representing the homelands of the Class of 2001, will be flown during the University ceremony. 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, which this year will include closed captioning. The University provides 12,000 folding chairs for graduates and their guests, but Commencement is usually a standing-room-only event. 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 single 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:
Departmental ceremonies Receiving a bachelor’s degree at Brown is a three-step process. First, during ceremonies at the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America, President Blumstein will present candidates for the bachelor’s degree to members of the Corporation, who will authorize her to confer the degrees. Second, during ceremonies on The College Green, Blumstein will confer all bachelors degrees symbolically by presenting a diploma to one representative of each degree (A.B., Sc.B, A.B./Sc.B.). Third, graduates will receive their individual 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. Disabilities Individuals with disabilities who require accommodations for any event during Commencement Weekend should contact the Office of University Events as soon as possible, but no less than 48 hours in advance. Call the Office of University events at (401) 863-2474 weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. This number connects to a line with TTY capabilities, if needed. Signing and closed captioning will be available for the weekend’s major ceremonies. Rain Plan If Monday is damp or drizzly, outdoor activities will 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/ae, friends and family will return to the campus for several days of reunion celebration which surround Commencement. Further information on reunion activities is available from the Reunion hotline: (401) 863-9292. The Commencement/Reunion Schedule Information about events is available from the Commencement hotline: (401)
863-7000. Friday, May 25 “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, to campus. Books will be collected at Reunion registration centers and throughout the weekend at Maddock Alumni Center and will be distributed to children in Providence. 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 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 26 Commencement Forums, presentations on a variety of topics by internationally respected speakers, take place all day, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eighteen forums are scheduled this year, all open without charge to campus guests and the general public on a space-available basis. For more information: (401) 863-2474. 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. (Rain site: Olney-Margolies Athletic Center.) The 20th Annual Dr. Carl and Dorothy O. Jagolinzer Memorial Commencement Concert, featuring performances by outstanding graduating seniors, begins at 4 p.m. in Grant Recital Hall. The Class of 2001 College Honors Convocation, honoring undergraduates who have received departmental academic awards, begins at 4:30 p.m. in Lincoln Field. President Blumstein and Dean of the College Paul Armstrong will address the honors recipients. (Rain site: Pizzitola Sports Center) The Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance will present an evening of new works by Brown alums Chris Elam and Jessica Gaynor, as well as a West African Ballet by Professor Michelle Bach-Coulibaly, with the Komme Josse Percussion Ensemble from Mali, West Africa, at 7 p.m. in the Ashamu Dance Studio. The Alumni Relations Commencement Concert, featuring guest artist Patti LuPone and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, will take place from 9 p.m. to midnight on The College Green. NOTE: In anticipation of thundershowers, the Commencement Concert has been moved to Meehan Auditorium, corner Hope and Lloyd. Sunday, May 27 University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson will officiate at the All Class Memorial Service to celebrate the lives of deceased classmates, 10:15 a.m. in Sayles Hall. The 2001 Baccalaureate Service begins at about 1:30 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. Madeleine Albright, U.S. secretary of state during the Clinton administration, will deliver the Baccalaureate address; family and friends may watch a video simulcast on The College Green. From dusk until midnight, the Brown Alumni Association will sponsor “WaterFire,” the dramatic multimedia fire installation by Barnaby Evans ’75 in downtown Providence. The Brown Jazz Band, Matthew McGarrell, director, presents its Commencement Concert at 7 p.m. in Grant Recital Hall. Tickets ($5) are available through the Music Department.´ The Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance will present an evening of new works by Brown alums Chris Elam and Jessica Gaynor, as well as a West African Ballet by Professor Michelle Bach-Coulibaly, with the Komme Josse Percussion Ensemble from Mali, West Africa, at 8 p.m. in the Ashamu Dance Studio. Monday, May 28 The Commencement Procession will be led this year by Chief Marshal Paul Nadler ’51. It will be more than a mile long, involve more than 6,000 people, and will step off at 8:30 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. A map showing locations of departmental ceremonies is printed in the Commencement program, available Monday on The College Green. ###### | |