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WMU will confer 1,400 degrees Saturday

June 25, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University will grant degrees to more than 1,400 students during two commencement ceremonies Saturday, June 28, in Miller Auditorium.

President John M. Dunn will preside over the ceremonies.

9 a.m. - College of Arts and Sciences, College of Aviation, College of Fine Arts, and College of Health and Human Services.

Noon - College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, College of Education, Extended University Programs, and Haworth College of Business.

During the two ceremonies, WMU will confer an estimated 1,429 degrees: 908 at the bachelor's level, 498 at the master's level and 23 at the doctoral level.

The June graduation exercises will feature music by Dr. Karl Schrock, University organist. The national anthem and the alma mater will be sung by WMU's chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia professional music fraternity, conducted by Nicholas Michiels. Graduates will be welcomed as new alumni of the University by Philip Chludzinski, treasurer of the WMU Alumni Association.

Tickets are required for guests to attend commencement, and each participating student is eligible to reserve up to four guest tickets. Should there be extra tickets, students who are participating in one of the exercises may request up to two more tickets on a first-come, first-served basis from the Miller Auditorium box office beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, June 27.

After all ticketed guests have been seated in Miller, any remaining open seats will be offered to those without tickets. Guests without tickets may also view the commencement ceremonies live on a screen in Room 3512 Knauss Hall, which is near Miller.

Both of the June ceremonies will be broadcast live on Channel 28 of EduCABLE, the University's cable television system, and throughout the Kalamazoo area on one of the Community Access Cable channels (channels 19-22) on the Charter Communications cable system.

The day of graduation, 100 online seats will be made available to accommodate those wishing to view a live Internet broadcast of the ceremonies. Those needing help setting up their computers for online video streaming may contact WMU's Office of Information Technology weekdays via e-mail at helpdesk@wmich.edu or by calling (269) 387-4357.

The University's TotalTech office will be providing professional recordings of the ceremonies in DVD and VHS formats. The recordings will cost $25 each, plus shipping and formatting fees if any, and may be ordered by mail or calling (269) 387-3930.

In addition, a professional photographer will take pictures of each graduating student. Color proofs will be sent to the students, but purchase of prints is optional.

The University conducts formal graduation exercises in June, December and April, although WMU students also may graduate in August. Students scheduled to graduate in August are given the option of participating in the June commencement ceremonies. The names of August graduates who choose to participate in those ceremonies are published in the June commencement program.

More information about graduation exercises and how to obtain tickets, recordings or student photos is available at www.wmich.edu/commencement.

Media contact: Jeanne Baron, (269) 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/wmu/news