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Go to Senior Class Day and Commencement webcasts.
Vanderbilt’s class of 2007 will celebrate their last days together during Commencement activities May 9-11, centered on Chancellor Gordon Gee‘s annual Commencement address on May 11.
Students and their families will also be addressed by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and will attend their choice of educational seminars taught by Vanderbilt faculty.
“Commencement is our most important ceremony,” said Gee. “The entire Vanderbilt community comes together to both reflect on the importance of our academic mission and to celebrate our students who have completed a very important journey, their teachers and mentors who guided them, and their families who share in the joy.”
More than 2,500 graduates are expected to attend Commencement. Vanderbilt will award more than 3,100 degrees to about 1,400 undergraduates and 1,600 graduate students.
The Village People will help kick off the first day of festivities when they perform hits including “YMCA” and “In the Navy” at The Party beginning at 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, at the Peabody Mall on the campus of Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development. Tickets are available to graduating seniors and their families and friends.
Yunus, a Vanderbilt alumnus, will accept the $100,000 Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal and deliver the Senior Class Day address at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 10, on Alumni Lawn. Gee will distribute copies of Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss to graduates during the Senior Send-off from 1:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Rand Terrace.
That afternoon, seven faculty members will present Senior Day Learning Sessions. This edition of the increasingly popular learning sessions features seminars on the 2008 presidential election, country music lyrics, classical music, influenza, brain research and computer science.
Gee will deliver his Commencement address at a ceremony which begins at 9 a.m. Friday, May 11, on Alumni Lawn. Graduate and professional schools will hold their own graduations following Gee’s remarks, while undergraduates will continue their ceremony on Alumni Lawn.
In case of severe weather, Senior Class Day and/or Commencement will be moved to Memorial Gymnasium. Those unsure where the ceremony will be held may call 615-322-7311 after 6 a.m. the day of the event or visit www.vanderbilt.edu/commencement for confirmation.
The addresses by Yunus and Gee will be webcast live and archived for later viewing. Links will be posted at www.vanderbilt.edu. The main Commencement ceremony and undergraduate Commencement exercises will be videotaped. For ordering information, go to www.vandygrads.com.
Further information about Commencement activities is available at www.vanderbilt.edu/commencement.
Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu