1 p.m. Sunday, May 16 on historic Voorhees Mall in the heart of the College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick.
University President Richard L. McCormick officially will confer all graduate and undergraduate degrees on a record estimated 12,651 graduates (approximately 8,636 receiving baccalaureate degrees, 2,762 receiving master’s, 1,252 receiving doctorates and one receiving an education specialist degree) and offer greetings and congratulations to the graduates and their families during the colorful event. Candidates for doctoral degrees from the Graduate School-New Brunswick (GS-NB), the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), the Graduate School of Education and Mason Gross School of the Arts, as well as master’s candidates from the GS-NB and GSAPP, will cross the platform. Students in the School of Arts and Sciences will come to the stage after graduate degrees have been awarded. Representative graduates from all degree-granting units at Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-New Brunswick will be present.
Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and former president of the National Organization for Women, will be the keynote speaker. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Smeal will be joined as a speaker by Gov. Chris Christie, who will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, and graduating seniors Julie M. Bianchini from Hillsborough, who majored in molecular biology and biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences, and Jonathan E. Maddison from Voorhees, who majored in political science in the Camden College of Arts and Sciences. They are the sixth and seventh graduating seniors to speak at the universitywide commencement since Rutgers became The State University of New Jersey in 1956. This is the first time two student speakers were chosen.
Along with Smeal and Christie, others receiving honorary degrees during commencement are: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (Doctor of Laws); The Rev. M. William Howard Jr., chair of Rutgers’ Board of Governors (Doctor of Humane Letters); and Judy Blume, author and member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame (Doctor of Letters). Dr. Carl Djerassi, emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University and scientist, author, playwright and philanthropist, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree and serve as speaker at the joint Newark College of Arts and Sciences/University College convocation May 17 in Newark.
Individual collegiate convocations begin Sunday, May 16 and will be held through Friday, May 28. Speakers, times and locations for these events can be found at http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel.
INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA
Seating: Reserved media seating on May 16 (commencement) and May 17 (Rutgers College convocation at 1 p.m.) will be available to the right of the platform party (facing the platform) near the Art Library. A multbox will be available. Bring appropriate cables.
Representatives from Rutgers’ Office of Media Relations will have media kits and sign-in sheets at commencement and the Rutgers College convocation, and will be present throughout the ceremonies. Reporters, photographers and videographers may not access the platform at any time and must not interfere with the ceremonies. A pool feed will be available. Videographers are welcome to arrive early and shoot B-roll. Graduate students will gather near the Old Queen’s administration building. Undergraduates from the School of Arts and Sciences will gather in Parking Lot 16 on George Street behind the stage.
During the Rutgers College convocation, videographers will be required to take a pool feed once the ceremony begins. You are urged to arrive early for B-roll opportunities.
Parking: Reserved media parking will be available in Lot 13 near the intersection of College Avenue and Mine Street, with the entrance on Mine. It is a short walk to Voorhees Mall. Show credentials to parking personnel or members of the Rutgers Police.
For further information or assistance, contact Steve Manas, Rutgers’ Office of Media Relations, at 732-932-7084, ext. 612 (office), or 732-991-7397 (cell).
Media Contact: Steve Manas
732-932-7084, ext. 612
E-mail: smanas@ur.rutgers.edu