Fall commencement set for Dec. 14

Jack Cullen, a member of Foster Pepper PLLC Attorneys at Law, will address Western Washington University graduates and their families at Western’s fall Commencement ceremony, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 in Carver Gymnasium.

Approximately 600 undergraduates and about 42 master’s candidates will receive degrees this quarter. Fall commencement includes all majors, and only one ceremony will take place. Admission is by ticket only, and each graduate will be allowed five tickets.

For guests without tickets, the ceremony will be displayed on large viewing screens in the Science, Mathematics and Technology Education building. Off campus, the ceremony will be broadcast on Whatcom County Comcast Cable Channel 26, and streamed live online.

Cullen is a 1973 Western graduate with a degree in Political Science. He has 35 years of experience in business law and specializes in complex financial matters. In 2013, “Best Lawyers in America” named Cullen the “Lawyer of the Year” in Seattle for work related to bankruptcy, insolvency and reorganization law. He recently represented an investment group led by actor Patrick Dempsey to purchase Tully’s Coffee. Cullen is also an experienced skydiver who was a member of the U.S. team that won a world championship in 1976. Cullen earned his law degree from the University of Puget Sound. Today, he is a member of the Western Foundation board of directors.

The ceremony’s student Commencement speaker will be Natalie Boles, who will receive her Bachelor of Arts degree Saturday in Geography. Boles, who attended high school and community college in Cincinnati, completed a minor in Disaster Risk Reduction and studied the Japanese post-tsunami recovery effort with Associate Professor Scott Miles. She hopes to attend graduate school and explore career options in the nonprofit or government sector.

Following the ceremony, graduates will have the opportunity to follow WWU tradition and deposit their Western identification cards in a box that is later cemented into Memory Walk in front of Old Main.

Guest parking is free on Commencement day and available in most lots. Visitors must observe regulations for handicapped and individually reserved spaces. Guests are advised to arrive early to avoid traffic congestion and to allow for travel time between the parking lots and gym.

Shuttle bus service will be available from the 12A parking lot off Bill McDonald Parkway near Fairhaven College from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The shuttle busses cannot accommodate wheelchairs; guests in wheelchairs may park in designated lots behind Miller Hall and Arntzen Hall.

Parking attendants will be available to assist guests with special parking needs.

For more information or for disability accommodations contact the Registrar’s Office, (360) 650-3701.