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Ceremonies recognizing the academic and personal accomplishments of Western Illinois University students and alumni will be held Friday-Saturday, Dec. 13-14 in Macomb during Western's Fall 2013 Commencement Weekend.
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WIU 2013 Fall Honors, Commencement Ceremonies Dec. 13-14

December 4, 2013

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MACOMB, IL – Ceremonies recognizing the academic and personal accomplishments of Western Illinois University students and alumni will be held Friday-Saturday, Dec. 13-14 in Macomb during Western's Fall 2013 Commencement Weekend.

At 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 the Academic Honors Convocation will be held in Western Hall. This ceremony recognizes college scholars, departmental scholars, honors scholars and candidates who have earned academic distinction throughout their Western Illinois University undergraduate careers. Students receive a medallion for each honor, which they wear at Saturday's Commencement ceremonies.

The number of students eligible to participate in Fall 2013 Commencement Ceremonies—scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 in Western Hall—is 1,031, which includes nearly 771 undergraduate students, of which 93 students are in the Bachelor of Arts in General Studies degree program (formerly the Board of Trustees Bachelor of Arts degree program), as well as 260 master's-level graduate students and four students earning their doctorate degrees in educational leadership (Ed.D.). They are: Jennifer D. Garrison (Vandalia, IL), James E. Garwood (Schaumburg, IL), Robert G. Grossi (Steger, IL) and Jean Hesslau Stachowiak (Hinsdale, IL). The combined ceremonies will include presenting graduating seniors their diploma covers and hooding graduate-degree candidates.

Alumni Achievement awards will be presented to five individual honorees: Stan R. Campbell ('75 sport management), associate vice chancellor for student affairs and director of campus recreation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Roger Clawson ('77 agriculture), State Farm Agent/owner of Roger Clawson State Farm Agency; John L. Comerford ('96 political science), president of Blackburn College; Richard M. Goldsbury ('79 finance, '80 business administration), president of the North America and Oceania Regions of Bobcat Company and president of Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment; and Jeff Lorber ('90 college student personnel), vice chancellor for development at the University of Illinois Springfield and senior vice president of the University of Illinois Foundation.

Commencement Ceremonies

The 9:30 a.m. Commencement ceremony will recognize graduate and undergraduate candidates in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business and Technology, as well as candidates in the Bachelor of Arts in General Studies and in Interdisciplinary Studies. Comerford and Goldsbury will receive their Alumni Achievement awards.

Marshals, who are graduating seniors selected from the top scholars earning high academic distinction, guide the graduating class, faculty and stage party from the processional to the recessional. They are: Erik Delane Binder (Pleasant Plains, IL), Spanish major; Matthew R. Hellman (West Chicago, IL), history major; Bradley Steven Mason (Macomb, IL), agriculture major; Kendra E. Meurs (Morrison, IL), mathematics major; Rachel Schrader (Germantown Hills, IL), mathematics major; Alexis Ann Slater (Plymouth, IL), accountancy major; Ann Nicole Supalla (Crestwood, IL), English major; and Jessica L. Toops (Aledo, IL), history major.

The 1 p.m. Commencement ceremony will recognize the Doctorate in Educational Leadership candidates and graduate and undergraduate candidates in the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Fine Arts and Communication. Campbell, Clawson and Lorber will receive their Alumni Achievement awards.

Marshals are: David M. Coupland (Bushnell, IL), special education major; Allison Nicole Hartkopp (Oswego, IL), art major; Megan Rachel Hodges (East Moline, IL), fashion merchandising major; Alejandra Ozuna (Beardstown, IL), double major in bilingual/bicultural education and Spanish; Taylor Lynn Snowman (Canton, IL), art major; Abigail Grace Stevenson (Kewanee), elementary education major; Brittany Marie Vinson (Bolingbrook, IL), music education major; and Steven S. Wilcer (Lombard, IL), music double major in instrumental performance and composition.

International Flags

The flags of 14 nations represented by the 2013 fall graduating class will be displayed in the arena. Sponsored by Western's Center for International Studies, the flags represent the following countries: Bolivia, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan and the United States of America. Western Illinois University was home to students from 50 countries during the Fall 2013 semester.

Gonfalons and Gonfaloniers

Gonfalons, which are banners hung from a crossbar on poles, made their inaugural appearance in the Fall 2009 Commencement ceremonies. Western Illinois University gonfalons represent the University overall, the School of Graduate Studies, as well as each of the four academic colleges: Arts and Sciences (white); Business and Technology (royal blue); Education and Human Services (UN blue); and Fine Arts and Communication (spice brown). Those who are chosen to carry the gonfalons are called "gonfaloniers." This honor has been awarded to the following faculty members by ceremony:

9:30 a.m. ceremony
James Kenny, professor of marketing, College of Business and Technology; William Polley, associate professor economics and decision sciences, College of Business and Technology; In Lee, professor of computer science, College of Business and Technology; and David Lane, professor of psychology, College of Arts and Sciences.

1 p.m. ceremony
James Kenny, professor of marketing, College of Business and Technology; William Polley, associate professor economics and decision sciences, College of Business and Technology; Breanna McEwan, assistant professor of communication, College of Fine Arts and Communication; and Christine Anderson, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, College of Education and Human Services at WIU-QC.

Ceremony Protocol

Western Illinois University Provost and Academic Vice President Ken Hawkinson will lead the Commencement ceremonies and President Jack Thomas will confer degrees and deliver his address, "The Places You Will Go," to the graduating classes. Members of Western's Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association will participate, and the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, James Stegall, professor of music, will be recognized at each ceremony. The Western Illinois University Concert Band, under the direction of Matt Thomas, will perform the music and Lorenzo Rush, Jr., a musical theatre major, will sing the National Anthem at the 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ceremonies.

Live Broadcast/Web Stream

Western's University Television (UTV) will broadcast the Academic Honors Convocation and each Commencement ceremony live on Macomb's cable channel 3. The Macomb ceremonies will also be streamed live on the web. A link to the web broadcast will be available from Western's homepage (wiu.edu) during the time of the ceremonies.

DVDs and Photos

DVDs of the ceremonies may be purchased through UTV, telephone (309) 298-1880. Photographs of each graduate will be taken as they receive their diploma covers. Proof sheets will be mailed from Western's Visual Production Center to each graduate, with instructions for ordering photos.

Open Ceremonies; ADA Requests

Ceremonies are open to family and friends of the graduates. Tickets are not required; seating is on a first come basis. Doors open 90 minutes before each ceremony. An interpreter will sign each ceremony and assistive listening devices will be available to the public at the information table in the north lobby of Western Hall. There are a limited number of disability seats, and individuals in need of special accommodations for the ceremonies should contact Western's Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at (309) 298-1977. Office hours are 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

For more information, visit wiu.edu/commencement.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing