Live webcast of ceremonies: http://www.k-state.edu/graduation/
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-2535, bbohn@k-state.edu

Monday, May 2, 2011

DEGREES OF SUCCESS: COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES MAY 7, 13 AND 14; SPEAKERS INCLUDE GOV. BROWNBACK, PROVOST MASON

MANHATTAN -- It's pomp and circumstance time at Kansas State University as more than 2,850 students are candidates for graduation. Commencement ceremonies will be Saturday, May 7, at K-State Salina, and Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14, on the K-State campus in Manhattan.

The class of 2011 is the 144th to graduate from K-State since the first class in 1867.

K-State will award more than 2,100 bachelor's degrees; nearly 550 master's; more than 70 doctorates; more than 100 doctor of veterinary medicine degrees; and more than 40 associate degrees. Around 140 students earned their degree through K-State distance  education.

A live webcast of the ceremonies will be available at http://www.k-state.edu/graduation/. A virtual commencement ceremony for distance students is available at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/students/commencement/.

Commencement for K-State Salina will be 10 a.m. May 7 in the Student Life Center. The speaker will be Sue Peterson, the university's director of governmental relations and assistant to the president.

Ceremonies on the Manhattan campus start May 13 with commencement for the Graduate School at 1 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum. Commencement for the College of Veterinary Medicine follows at 3:30 p.m. in McCain Auditorium. Representing the Kansas Board of Regents at both ceremonies will be Regent Richard Hedges, Fort Scott. Gail McClure, a special employee at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., working in education and human resources, will be the speaker for the Graduate School ceremony. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a K-State alumnus, will deliver the commencement address for the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The schedule of ceremonies and the speakers for ceremonies May 14 are:

* College of Arts and Sciences, 8:30 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum, with Brian Spooner, interim dean of the college.

* College of Architecture, Planning and Design, 10 a.m., McCain Auditorium, with John Calvin Williams, a former senior economist with the African department of the International Monetary Fund. Williams also was a Peace Corps volunteer and had an international career with Chase Manhattan Bank. He is a 1968 K-State architecture and philosophy alumnus.

* College of Education, 11 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum, with Curtis Chandler, 2011 Kansas Teacher of the Year. Chandler is a K-State alumnus and teaches at Wamego Middle School.

* College of Business Administration, 12:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum, with Jon Darbyshire, general manager of RSA Archer, eGRC Solutions.

* College of Agriculture, 2:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum, with Dale Rodman, Kansas secretary of agriculture and a K-State alumnus.

* College of Human Ecology, 4:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum, with Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., commanding general, III Corps and Fort Hood, in Texas. Campbell is a K-State alumnus.

* College of Engineering, 6:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum, with April Mason, K-State provost and senior vice president.

DVDs of the ceremonies may be ordered through the K-State Student Union Bookstore at 800-KSU-CATS or 785-532-6583.

K-State's Army and Air Force ROTC units will have commissioning ceremonies May 13 in Forum Hall in the Union. The ceremony for Army ROTC starts at 10:30 a.m., and the Air Force ROTC ceremony starts at 2 p.m.