Vanderbilt graduates along with their family and friends will gather for the annual Senior Day address – this year by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin – indoors in Memorial Gymnasium.
The 10 a.m. Thursday, May 7, address was originally scheduled for Alumni Lawn, but rainy weather during the past week made it necessary to move the event indoors. Vanderbilt officials wanted to allow time for Alumni Lawn to dry out and to avoid damage before Friday’s outdoor Commencement.
Memorial Gymnasium at 2601 Jess Neely Drive is also the backup site for Commencement, if Alumni Lawn is unusable or weather is inclement.
Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln and other popular best-sellers, will receive Vanderbilt’s 2009 Nichols-Chancellor Medal given annually to individuals who define the 21st century and exemplify the best qualities of the human spirit. The medal was created and endowed by Vanderbilt Law School graduate Ed Nichols and his wife, Janice, in honor of Edward Carmack and Lucile Hamby Nichols.
Goodwin’s speech will pay tribute to the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Lincoln in 1809 and is part of a series of events nationwide to celebrate the occasion this year. It is free and open to the public.
Vanderbilt is granting about 3,400 degrees this year, 1,580 to undergraduates and 1,820 to graduate and professional students. About 2,700 graduates are expected to attend the ceremony.
For complete Commencement information, visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/commencement.
Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu
Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu