SMU honors new graduates
Commencement Weekend begins with Baccalaureate on Friday followed by graduation ceremonies Saturday.
SMU will honor new graduates Commencement weekend May 14 and 15, 2010. Festivities begin at 8 p.m., May 14 with Baccalaureate at McFarlin Auditorium, where University Chaplain Steve Rankin will speak.
Baccalaureate is followed by Rotunda Recessional where graduates, led by faculty and alumni marshals, march through the Rotunda of Dallas Hall. This ceremony welcomes graduates into their new phase of membership in the SMU community - their life as alumni.
SMU will award nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees at 9:30 a.m. May 15, during the 95th University-wide Commencement ceremony in Moody Coliseum on campus. Commencement speaker will be United States Trade Representative and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jorie Graham, University of California-Berkeley physicist Saul Perlmutter and Russian human rights lawyer Karinna Akopovna Moskalenko will receive honorary degrees at the ceremony.
The University’s schools and departments will hold 20 individual diploma ceremonies throughout the day. Events are listed in chronological order.
> Find rain location information for school and department diploma ceremonies.
The Guildhall at SMU
Adam Sessler, video game expert and host of G-4’s “X-Play,” will speak at The Guildhall graduation celebration at SMU-in-Plano. An exhibition of student work from 1 to 5 p.m. is open to the public. Tickets are required for the graduation event. More. »
6 p.m., May 14, The Guildhall at SMU, SMU-in-Plano
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development
Speakers at the Simmons School ceremony include Jennifer Cheatham who will be awarded her Ph.D. in education, and Elisa Morrissey, who will be awarded her Master’s degree in bilingual education.
12:30 p.m., Highland Park United Methodist Church, Wesley Hall
Cox School of Business
Albert Niemi Jr., dean of Cox School of Business and Tolleson Distinguished Professor of Business Leadership and Economics, will speak at Cox undergraduate and graduate diploma ceremonies.
Undergraduate ceremony, 1:30 p.m., Moody Coliseum; Graduate ceremony, 3:30 p.m., Moody Coliseum
Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering
Hunter L. Hunt ’90, senior vice president of Hunt Oil Company and president of Hunt Power, L.P., both subsidiaries of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. of Dallas, will speak at the engineering ceremony.
1:30 p.m., McFarlin Auditorium
Perkins School of Theology
Charles Wood, Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine and director of graduate program in religious studies, will speak at the Perkins celebration of degrees and academic achievements.
2 p.m., Sanctuary, Highland Park Methodist Church
Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences
Dedman College graduates will be awarded their diplomas at 15 separate departmental ceremonies at locations from ranging from Bridwell Library to Dallas Hall.
Meadows School of the Arts
Meadows graduates will be awarded their diplomas in four separate ceremonies in Owen Arts Center and McFarlin Auditorium. Performances will feature members of the Class of 2010. Find rain location information and other instructions at the Meadows website.
6:30 p.m., Owen Arts Center
Dedman School of Law
Edward Rust Jr., chairman of the board and CEO of State Farm Mutual, will speak at the Dedman School of Law hooding ceremony. Rust earned his J.D. from Dedman School of Law and his MBA from Cox School of Business.
6:30 p.m., Law School Quadrangle