38 students will be celebrated at the Lee Honors College graduate recognition ceremony on Dec. 17, 2021 at 4 p.m. in Western Michigan University’s Bernhard Center. We look forward to sharing this special occasion to honor the accomplishments of our graduating students.
At the ceremony, students will receive their Lee Honors College certificate and honors cords, which may be worn to WMU’s commencement ceremony on Dec. 18. (For additional information on WMU commencement, visit the official website.)
A Lee Honors College tradition is to let our graduates choose who will place their honors cords on them at the ceremony. This person can be a family member, friend, mentor, significant other or other person of the graduate’s choosing. Some students choose two people, such as parents, or their honors thesis committee, to bestow their cords. This is a meaningful way to say “thank you” to a person who has supported our students during their time at WMU.
Dr. Carla Koretsky will serve as the keynote speaker for this semester’s ceremony. Koretsky is the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at WMU, past dean of the Lee Honors College and a professor in both the Geological and Environmental Sciences department and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Koretsky earned her doctoral degree in earth and planetary sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1998 and her bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis where she graduated cum laude with an earth and planetary sciences major and minors in economics and music performance (violin) in 1992.
Music for the event will be provided by Lee Honors College sophomore and 2020 Medallion Scholar, Emily Bosak. Emily is an accomplished violinist and past concertmaster of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra.
Attendance is limited, but graduates may bring up to four guests and, as with all WMU events, the facial covering (mask) policy will be in effect and all faculty, staff, students and visitors must wear a mask when in indoor spaces.
We are incredibly proud of our graduates and excited to share this in-person ceremony with them after almost two years of virtual graduations. Congratulations, fall 2021 grads!