More than 400 students to graduate March 17
Timothy Egan, award-winning author and columnist with the New York Times, will receive Western Washington University’s honorary doctorate degree at winter commencement 10 a.m. Saturday, March 17, in Carver Gymnasium.
Egan will also give the commencement address and graduating senior Bethany Fromong of Enumclaw will give the student commencement address.
The ceremony will include the presentation of the Western Washington University President’s Award, the university’s highest community honor, to the Haggen and King families. The award is presented to those who have given distinguished service to the university and the region.
Approximately 400 undergraduates and about 13 master’s candidates will receive degrees this quarter. Winter commencement includes all majors, and only one ceremony will take place.
Admission into the gymnasium will require a ticket. Each undergraduate and master’s candidate who has signed up to participate in the ceremony will be issued six tickets. Tickets are not required for guests who wish to watch the live televised ceremony in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (SMATE) building room 150. The ceremony will also be streamed live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wwu-live-events1.
Egan, who will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, served as The New York Times’ Pacific Northwest correspondent and a national enterprise reporter for 18 years. Egan is a widely respected author who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his work on the series, “How Race is Lived in America” and the National Book Award for his 2006 work “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.”
Bethany Fromong, the ceremony’s student commencement speaker, is graduating with a degree in Theatre Arts. She has played a critical role in theatre productions at Western, in the Bellingham community and beyond. She recently was selected to present her design concept for the play “Terra Nova” at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival held at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo. The daughter of Clark and Tricia Fromong, she grew up in Enumclaw and is a graduate of Enumclaw Senior High School.
The Haggen and King families, recipients of the President’s Award, have a tradition of making their communities a better place by sharing their resources of time, funds and leadership. The Haggens are long-time supporters of Viking Athletics and have endowed many scholarships for scholar athletes. The Kings also established an endowment for Western’s Wade King Student Recreation Center. Members of both families have participated in many community groups and leadership boards including the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the Mount Baker Council Boy Scouts of America, the Whatcom YMCA, Bellingham Rotary and a capital campaign to expand St. Joseph Hospital’s Cancer Center.
After commencement, graduates will proceed toward the stage, where they will pass through a corridor of faculty and the President’s party to deposit their Western identification cards or other mementos in a box to be buried beneath a “2012” paver in the walkway in front of Old Main.
Commencement parking is available at no cost in most lots. Visitors must observe regulations for handicapped and individually reserved spaces. Lot 14G will be reserved for faculty and staff. A shuttle service to Carver Gym will be available from the tent in lot 12A off Bill McDonald Parkway near Fairhaven College. The shuttle cannot accommodate wheelchairs. Guests in wheelchairs may park in lots 10G and 17G on East College Way. 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.