Date: Saturday, June 14
Location: Rose Garden Arena
Time: Students should arrive at the Memorial Coliseum Exhibit Hall no later than 8:45 a.m. to check in.
The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the Rose Garden Arena, and doors open for guests at 9 a.m.
Rules of engagement
The 2003 commencement Web site states that cell phones and chewing gum are “strongly discouraged”; of course, neither alcohol nor tobacco are permitted in the building. And, apparently, no helium balloons.
Also, once in, graduates cannot leave. Students who choose to participate in the ceremony will not be allowed to leave the area until after they have walked, except in an emergency situation.
The program
Keynote speaker: James De Preist, former conductor and now laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony, will deliver the keynote speech for the class of 2003.
Student speakers: Autumn Watts, graduating from the Honors College, has been a peer mentor for three years and is beginning a master of fine arts program in creative writing at Cornell University next fall.
Susi Rourke, receiving her master’s of science degree this year, was also a peer mentor as well as a teacher’s assistant in the communications department during her undergraduate studies. She returned to PSU in 2001 for her master’s degree and will be working with the Clackamas County Dispute Resolution Program after graduation.
Don’t have your costume yet?
For those students who did not order a cap and gown from Josten’s, the PSU Bookstore (located in the Urban Center) will be selling them through Thursday, June 14, priced as follows:
cap: $4.50
gown: $16 for undergraduate students; $18 for graduate students
tassel: $4.50
The bookstore is open Monday-Thursday, 7:45 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.; and Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Paparazzi shmaparazzi
Cameras are allowed inside the building for both graduates and guests.
In addition, a team of photographers from The Picture Man, Inc. will snap a shot of each graduate in her or his cap and gown before the ceremony, beginning at 8:45 a.m.
Each student will receive one print free of charge in the mail within two weeks and may purchase additional prints from the photographer.
Did you know that …
* Nearly 2,200 students are expected to participate in spring commencement.
* The youngest graduate this year is 19, while the oldest is 73; the average graduate age is 28.
* Females comprise 58 percent of the graduating class, males 42 percent.
* The top five graduating majors include psychology at 6 percent, social science at 6 percent, marketing at 4 percent, sociology at 4 percent and English at 4 percent.
For more information
Contact the Commencement Office at 503-725-4910 or commencement@pdx.edu, or check out its Web site at www.ess.pdx.edu/adm/commencement.
-Erin Lloyd, with additional reporting by Art Chenoweth