Fall Quarter Commencement Set for Dec. 12

Dr. Richard Veith, chief of Psychiatric Services at the University of Washington Medical Center, will address Western Washington University graduates and their families in three fall Commencement ceremonies that will take place in Western’s Performing Arts Center Mainstage Dec. 12.

Approximately 645 undergraduates and about 33 master’s candidates will receive degrees this quarter. Admission is by ticket only, and each graduate will be allowed four tickets. Overflow seating also will be available on campus.

As Carver Gymnasium undergoes a $70 million renovation project, summer, fall and winter Commencement ceremonies will be held in the Performing Arts Center Mainstage. Spring Commencement will be held at Civic Field in Bellingham.

Fall Commencement will include three ceremonies: At 9 a.m., students will graduate from the College of Fine and Performing Arts, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, the American Cultural Studies Program, Huxley College of the Environment and Woodring College of Education. The noon ceremony will include graduates of the College of Science and Engineering, the College of Business and Economics and the Graduate School. At 3 p.m., students will graduate from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Additional viewing for the fall ceremony will be available in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, located in the same building as the Mainstage. 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.

Veith, who will speak at all three ceremonies, is a physician, psychiatrist, administrator and professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he is the chief of Psychiatric Services at the UW Medical Center, an adjunct professor of Global Health in the School of Public Health, and the Richard D. and Bernice E. Tutt Professor in the Neurosciences. He has published extensively on the treatment of depression in patients with heart disease and stroke. And he travels regularly to Vietnam and Cambodia, working with medical schools and health ministries to address the tragic shortage of psychiatric and mental health care in those countries.

The 9 a.m. ceremony’s student Commencement speaker will be Lani Asman, who is graduating with two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in an interdisciplinary concentration from Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies. A graduate of Park High School in Livingston, Montana, Asman belongs to the first cohort of students in the Computer Science/Math Scholars Program, a scholarship funded by the National Science Foundation for women in math and computer science. She also studied abroad in India and Thailand in 2014, learning about environmental justice, and symbolism in Eastern religions and philosophies.

The student Commencement speaker for the noon ceremony will be Sunni Schoepe, who is receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Plastics Engineering Technology. Schoepe was an officer in Western’s chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering and served as a teacher’s assistant for several engineering classes. A graduate of Lynden High School, Schoepe completed internships with Zodiac Aerospace and Nike, where he will work as a process engineer after graduation.

The student Commencement Speaker for 3 p.m. ceremony will be Jenna Cowan, who will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and two minors: Theatre Arts, and Woman, Gender and Sexuality Studies. At Western, Cowan worked as a peer health educator for Prevention and Wellness Services, and served as a board member with the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center. A graduate of Woodinville High School, Cowan also spent time as the lead volunteer for the Law Advocates’ Access ID program, where she helped people from underprivileged populations navigate the process of obtaining official state identification.

All guests should be seated 20 minutes before the posted time of the ceremony. Doors open an hour before each ceremony. No food or drink is allowed in the Performing Arts Center.

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 South College Drive near Fairhaven College from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. until there is no demand. One of the shuttle buses will be ADA equipped and accommodate wheelchairs. Guests who use wheelchairs may also park in lot 11G, adjacent to the Performing Arts Center, which will be reserved for handicap parking.

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) 650-2246.