WMU to confer some 1,900 degrees during fall commencement
KALAMAZOO—Western Michigan University will grant degrees to more than 1,900 students during three commencement ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 15, in Miller Auditorium.
WMU President John M. Dunn will preside over the fall 2012 ceremonies. In all, the University will confer 1,931 degrees: 1,445 at the bachelor’s level, 447 at the master’s level, one at the specialist level and 38 at the doctoral level.
Schedule
9 a.m.—Ceremony for graduates of the colleges of Aviation, Education and Human Development, and Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Noon—Ceremony for graduates of the Haworth College of Business and colleges of Fine Arts and Health and Human Services.
3 p.m.—Ceremony for graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences and Extended University Programs.
The December graduation exercises will feature music by the Western Brass Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Steve M. Wolfinbarger. The national anthem and the alma mater will be sung by the University’s chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia professional music fraternity, conducted by Andrew Miller. Graduates will be welcomed as new alumni of the University by Philip Chludzinski, president of the WMU Alumni Association.
Tickets
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 Ticket Office beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14.
After all ticketed guests have been seated in Miller, any remaining open seats will be offered to those without tickets. Guests without tickets may view the commencement ceremonies live on a large screen in Brown Hall, which is near Miller. Guests attending the ceremony who have special needs should call (269) 387-2320 for special seating or wheelchair reservations.
Live coverage and photos
All of the December ceremonies will be broadcast live on Channel 5 of EduCABLE, the University’s cable television system, and throughout the Kalamazoo area on Public Media Network Channel 99, a local public access channel on the Charter Communications commercial cable television system.
A live webcast of the ceremonies will be available online to a limited number of people the day of graduation. Those planning to view the webcast will need to install Windows Media Player on their computers.
A professional photographer will take pictures of each graduating student. Color proofs will be sent to the students, but purchase of prints is optional.
More information
For complete graduation information, including how to view the live webcast or obtain tickets or student photos, visit wmich.edu/commencement.
The University conducts formal graduation exercises in December, April and June, although WMU students also may graduate in August. A final list of December 2012 graduates is expected to be distributed to hometown newspapers in February.