Fall Quarter Commencement Set for Dec. 13

Anne Cooper, vice president for the Sammons Financial Group, will address Western Washington University graduates and their families at Western’s fall Commencement ceremony, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13 in Carver Gymnasium.

Approximately 681 undergraduates and about 44 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 (SMATE) building. Off campus, the ceremony will be broadcast on Whatcom County Comcast Cable Channel 26, and streamed live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wwu-live-events1.

Originally from Tacoma, Anne Cooper graduated from Western in 1986 with a degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology; she continued her studies in this area and earned a Ph.D. from Iowa State University. Cooper, of Ames, Iowa, is a human resources executive in the financial services industry with experience in the United States, Europe and Asia. Now vice president of Human Resources for Sammons Financial Group, Cooper served as head of Human Resources for ING Life in South Korea from 2008 to 2010, and head of Organizational Development and Change for ING in the Netherlands from 2010 to 2011. While at Western, Cooper was co-captain of the Women’s Basketball Team that played in the 1986 national quarterfinals -- and she still holds the team’s record for most blocked shots in a career and in a season.

The ceremony’s student Commencement speaker will be Shannon Gnagey, who will receive her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration, with a double concentration in Marketing and International Business. Gnagey, from Edmonds, studied and completed an internship abroad, founded an Associated Students club devoted to women’s leadership, and interned with Google in New York City.

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.