An estimated 2,300 students will receive diplomas today as Tufts' eight schools gather on Walnut Hill today for the University's 146th commencement ceremony. Tufts graduates Pierre (LA '88) and Pamela (J '89) Omidyar will deliver the keynote address to the audience.
Honorary degrees will be awarded at the all-University ceremony, which will take place on the lawn between Bendetson and Ballou Halls. In honor of the University's 150th anniversary, each recipient has a connection with Tufts. President Emeritus Dr. John DiBiaggio, Reverend William Sinkford, President of Tufts' founding congregation in the Unitarian Universalist Church, and alumni Roderick MacKinnon, Eugene Fama, and Katherine Haley, will each receive honorary degrees.
The all-University commencement will include the academic procession, awarding of honorary degrees, acknowledgment of faculty emeriti, recognition of degree candidates by school, the awarding of degrees by the Board of Trustees, and the Omidyars' commencement address.
The speech "will likely focus on the importance of active citizenship," Tufts public relations spokesman Craig LeMoult said. The couple will speak on the mission of the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS), Omidyar spokeswoman Michelle Goguen said in February.
Because this year marks Tufts' 150th anniversary, the atmosphere leading up to the 2002 commencement has been "an exciting one," LeMoult said. "The entire University community is looking forward to the final event in its year-long celebration of Tufts' sesquicentennial."
The Omidyars are just two prominent figures to speak to graduates today.
Former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will speak at the Fletcher School ceremony, and humorist Roy Blount will address the graduating class at the Veterinary School. Senior Michael Ferenczy, winner of the Wendell Phillips award, will be the only undergraduate to speak today at the general ceremony for the School of Liberal Arts, School of Engineering, College of Special Studies, and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
Albright was unavailable for comment due to travels, and the topic of her speech remains unknown. "We are hopeful that she will be addressing some of the timely issues of the day, particularly the Middle East terrorism, while drawing on her experience as a former secretary of state," Fletcher School spokeswoman Terry Ann Knopf said.
Fletcher School Dean Stephen Bosworth worked with Albright as a diplomat to the Republic of Korea. Bosworth invited her because of her outstanding speaking abilities, extensive knowledge of foreign affairs, and her wonderfully opinionated personality, according to Knopf.
Albright has established the Albright Group, a consulting firm in Washington DC, and "is traveling extensively these days," Knopf said. Knopf hopes that Albright's speech will be "policy oriented, because the students are anxious to hear her views."
Following the all-University ceremony, individual graduates will receive diplomas. From the School of Liberal Arts, the School of Engineering, the College of Special Studies, and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences combined, 1,624 students will graduate. This is the first year Jackson College will not be printed on female undergraduates' diplomas since 1963.
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy will award 200 students with degrees at the Fletcher Field ceremony. The Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center will host the ceremony for 195 graduates of both the School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.
The School of Dental Medicine will graduate 166 in a ceremony on the Carmichael Quad, and the School of Nutrition Science and Policy will graduate 46 in the Marston Balch Arena Theater/Alumnae Lounge in the Aidekman Arts Center.
The School of Veterinary Medicine's ceremony will be held on the Grafton campus and will award degrees to 87 recipients.
