Procession Of Cap-And-Gown Celebrations Begins Nursing Program, WSU Spokane Award Diplomas Today, With WSU And Gonzaga Cermonies Over The Weekend

The college commencement season begins this weekend in the Inland Northwest with ceremonies for graduates of Washington State University and Gonzaga University.

Pullman ceremonies marking WSU’s 101st commencement are scheduled Saturday.

Gonzaga’s graduate school commencement is Saturday, and the undergraduate commencement will be Sunday.

University of Idaho commencement takes place May 17, Whitworth College graduation will be May 18, and Eastern Washington University commencement will be June 14.

WSU Spokane and the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education will award degrees today at 2 p.m. in the Spokane Opera House.

Johnny Cox, staff ethicist at Sacred Heart Medical Center, will deliver the commencement address at the ceremony honoring 329 students.

WSU’s all-university assembly is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum in Pullman.

The commencement address will be delivered by William Julius Wilson, one of the country’s most respected sociologists and a WSU Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award winner. Currently teaching at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Wilson has authored several books on racism and the underclass. In 1996, he was selected by Time magazine as one of America’s 25 most influential people.

College commencements on the Pullman campus Saturday get under way at 8 a.m. with the College of Education in the Hollingberry Fieldhouse and College of Business and Economics in the Coliseum.

At 8:30 a.m., the College of Pharmacy will hold ceremonies in Bryan Auditorium. Following the all-university assembly, the College of Liberal Arts will honor degree recipients at 1:30 p.m. in the Coliseum.

The College of Agriculture and Home Economics will host ceremonies in the fieldhouse and the College of Veterinary Medicine in the CUB ballroom at 1:30. At 2 p.m., the School of Architecture will hold ceremonies in Bryan Auditorium. The College of Sciences holds its program in the fieldhouse and Engineering and Computer Science in the Coliseum at 4 p.m.

More than 1,000 students will graduate Saturday and Sunday with degrees from Gonzaga University.

The first of three ceremonies will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday in Hughes Hall Auditorium. Major Gen. Stewart Wallace is scheduled to be the speaker at this ROTC commissioning ceremony.

Vera King Farris, president of New Jersey’s Richard Stockton College, will speak at the Gonzaga School of Law commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Martin Centre.

At the graduate school commencement, which begins at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Martin Centre, the Rev. John W. O’Malley will speak. A Jesuit priest, O’Malley is a professor of church history at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass.

The Rev. Alfred Kammer, president of Catholic Charities, USA, will speak at the undergraduate commencement ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. Sunday in the Spokane Arena.

On May 17, University of Idaho President Robert Hoover will host his first commencement. There are 2,477 UI students eligible for degrees during this year’s 102nd commencement.

Retired U.S. Sen. James McClure will deliver the keynote address during the all-university ceremony at 9 a.m. in the Kibbie ASUI Activities Center.

Each college will hold a general commencement: 11 a.m., College of Engineering in Memorial Gym; Forestry Wildlife and Range Sciences in the SUB Ballroom; College of Letters and Science and General Studies in the Kibbie ASUI Activities Center; and Mines and Earth Resources in the university auditorium.

At 1:30 p.m., College of Agriculture in Memorial Gym; College of Art and Architecture in the SUB Ballroom; College of Education in the Kibbie ASUI Activities Center. At 3:30 p.m., the College of Business and Economics will hold its ceremony in Memorial Gym; with the College of Law following at 4:30 p.m.

Whitworth College’s 107th commencement on May 18 will honor 500 degree candidates, the largest number in the school’s history. Commencement ceremonies will begin at 2 p.m. in the Spokane Opera House. Whitworth President Bill Robinson will speak.

Eastern Washington University’s commencement ceremonies will be at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, June 14, in EWU’s Pavilion. More than 1,940 students will receive baccalaureate degrees and another 399 will obtain master’s degrees. Stuart W. Ezey, developer of ESPN, will be the speaker at both ceremonies.

, DataTimes