2,400 to receive diplomas

Approximately 2,399 degrees will be presented at today's commencement ceremonies. The undergraduate class of 2003 will graduate 1,365 students in addition to 1,034 from Tufts' graduate schools.

Margaret Marshall, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, will give the keynote speech, entitled "Different Voices, Uncommon Questions: Democratic Values in the 21st Century."

The all-University commencement ceremony, the 147th in school history, as well as the degree presentations for students in the College of Liberal Arts, Jackson College, School of Engineering, College of Special Studies, and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, will take place on a stage in front of Bendetson Hall.

Four honorary degrees will also be presented at the ceremony. Marshall will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Arthur Mitchell, a pioneer in opening the world of dance to African-Americans and Ambassador for the Arts for the United States, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

Nobel Prize-winning chemist and MIT professor Mario Molina, whose work focuses on air pollution, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Pharmaceutical executive Agnes Varis, who has campaigned for affordable pharmaceuticals and animal welfare, in addition to endowing the Agnes Varis University