Nancy Pelosi to help CU celebrate 142nd Graduation Weekend, May 29-30

Seniors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Abubakar Jalloh and Eric Kelsey try on their caps in Teagle Hall May 26.

Cornell will celebrate its 142nd Graduation Weekend, May 29-30, with about 6,000 graduates receiving their degrees. Nancy Pelosi, now in her second term as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will be the Convocation speaker, Saturday, May 29, at noon, and Cornell President David Skorton will give the Commencement address, Sunday, May 30, at 11 a.m. Both events will be at Schoellkopf Stadium (in the event of severe weather, the ceremonies will be moved to Barton Hall with admission by ticket only, which have been distributed to graduating seniors).

Pelosi, the first woman to be speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has represented the city of San Francisco since 1987. As speaker of the House, she is second in the presidential line of succession. She also served as the House Democratic whip for one year. The ceremony also will feature an address by Cornell Senior Class President Jeffrey Katz and the presentation of a gift to the university from the senior class.

Other Graduation Weekend events include:

Saturday, May 29:

  • ROTC Commissioning: Reception 7:45-8:30 a.m., with commissioning at 8:30-10:30 a.m., all at Statler Hall, Beck Center Auditorium.
  • Johnson School Executive MBA Recognition Ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at Bailey Hall.
  • President's Family Reception: Skorton and the Cornell Board of Trustees will host a reception for students, their families and guests from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on the Arts Quad.
  • DVM Hooding Ceremony: New doctors of veterinary medicine will take the Veterinarian's Oath and receive their hoods at 2 p.m. in Bailey Hall.
  • Johnson School Recognition Ceremony: New graduates will be honored at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall, 2:30 to 4 p.m.
  • Cornell Wind Ensemble Concert: Cornell's premier instrumental student ensemble performs international and American music, as well as Cornell songs, on the Arts Quad, 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.
  • Ph.D. Recognition Ceremony: This event for Ph.D. candidates will be held at 5 p.m. in Barton Hall. A reception will follow. Families, friends and faculty members are invited.
  • Senior Week Concert: The Cornell Glee Club and the Cornell Chorus will present their annual concert at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Admission $10, with tickets available at http://www.baileytickets.com or at Ticket Center Ithaca in Center Ithaca downtown, 607-273-4497 and at the door.

Sunday, May 30:

  • Academic procession: The procession assembles on the Arts Quad at 9 a.m. and will arrive at Schoellkopf Stadium at 10 a.m.
  • Commencement ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to noon.
  • College and school ceremonies: The ceremonies and receptions for individual Cornell colleges and schools will be held at various locations, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. A listing will be available in the Commencement program or at http://www.commencement.cornell.edu/May/colrecep.html.

How to see and hear the ceremonies:

Both Saturday's Convocation and Sunday's Commencement will be broadcast live on Ithaca's Time Warner Cable Channel 16 and streamed live on the Cornell website at http://www.cornell.edu/. Commencement also will be broadcast on WHCU radio (870 AM) starting at 11 a.m.

The Commencement procession and ceremony can be accessed afterward on CornellCast at http://www.cornell.edu/video.

For general information about Graduation Weekend:

http://www.commencement.cornell.edu/

For Graduation Weekend dining on campus:

http://www.commencement.cornell.edu/May/dining.html