Barbara Bush will receive degree and give address at WFU commencement ceremony
Former first lady Barbara Bush will deliver Wake Forest University’s commencement address and receive an honorary degree on May 21st at the 9 a.m. outdoor ceremony on Wake Forest’s University Plaza.
A total of 1,349 students will receive degrees. There will be 809 students who will receive undergraduate degrees and 583 students who will receive professional or graduate degrees. Of those graduating students, 43 are receiving joint degrees.
Approximately 809 undergraduates and 582 professional and graduate school students will receive diplomas at the 9 a.m. outdoor ceremony on Wake Forest’s University Plaza.
Commencement is not open to the general public. Parking passes and tickets are required to enter campus and attend the event. Tickets are reserved for graduates, their guests and Wake Forest alumni.
Barbara Bush is the third member of the Bush family to appear at Wake Forest. Both her husband, former President George Bush, and her son, President George W. Bush, debated presidential opponents in Wait Chapel. She will receive an honorary doctorate of humanities during the ceremony.
Wake Forest will also award two other honorary degrees during commencement. Martin Isepp, a distinguished pianist, vocal coach and conductor, will receive an honorary doctorate of fine arts. William P. Hytche, who revitalized the historically black University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) during his presidency from 1976- 1997, will receive an honorary doctorate of laws.
Commencement activities begin May 20, with an 11 a.m. baccalaureate service in Wait Chapel. The Rev. Brad R. Braxton, the Jessie Ball duPont Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Biblical Studies at the Wake Forest Divinity School, will deliver the baccalaureate address.
Hooding ceremonies for the professional schools will also be held on May 20.
The hooding ceremony for the Wake Forest School of Law will be held at 1:45 p.m. in Wait Chapel. Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Ontario Court of Appeals will be the hooding speaker.
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will hold its hooding ceremony at 3 p.m. in Brendle Recital Hall. L. DiAnne Borders, chairperson of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s School of Education, will deliver the hooding address.
The hooding ceremony for the Wake Forest School of Medicine will be held at 4:15 p.m. in Wait Chapel. John A. Fagg, a 1971 graduate of the Wake Forest School of Medicine and president of the North Carolina Medical Society, will deliver the hooding address.
The Babcock Graduate School of Management will hold its hooding ceremony at 7 p.m. in Wait Chapel. Isaiah Tidwell, a 1980 graduate of the Babcock School and president of Georgia Banking for Wachovia Bank, N.A., will deliver the hooding address.
In the event of rain, the commencement ceremony will be moved to the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and begin at 9:30 a.m.
Note to media: Members of the media will be notified by 7:30 a.m. on May 21 if the rain plan is put into effect. To request a parking pass, contact the News Service. Visit the News Service Web site, www.wfu.edu/wfunews, for more information.
Categories: Happening at Wake, University Announcements
Media Contact
Wake Forest News
media@wfu.edu
336.758.5237
