WSU Spring Commencement: Facts and Figures About the 2007 Graduating Class

PULLMAN, Wash.— Washington State University’s 111th spring commencement will take place on Saturday May 5 at Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. WSU President V. Lane Rawlins will address graduates during the 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. ceremonies. Mark A. Suwyn (pronounced ‘Sue-in’), a WSU alumnus and NewPage Corp. chairman of the board and chief executive officer, will speak to those graduating during the 11:30 a.m. ceremony. Rawlins will preside over and confer degrees during all ceremonies.

The 8 a.m. ceremony will include the colleges of Business and Education, the 11:30 a.m. ceremony will include the colleges of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences; Engineering and Architecture; Nursing; Pharmacy; Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine and the 3 p.m. ceremony will include the College of Liberal Arts.

The Pullman campus has changed in the last four years since many of the graduating students first came to WSU. In 2003 a new building for the Institute of Shock Physics was inaugurated. Students also saw the opening of the 24,000 square-foot addition of the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication in 2004; new Plant Biosciences and Education Addition building in 2005; and the closing of the Compton Union Building for a two-year renovation in 2006.

Students have witnessed tragedies such as a tsunami that affected several Asian countries, two hurricanes that took place in the U.S. Gulf Coast and a shooting in the Virginia Tech campus. WSU students graduating this year have participated in relief efforts to help survivors and in events to express their condolences for the victims of those tragedies.

The university and its faculty and staff have also achieved important accomplishments and earned high honors during the last four years, including developing the test used to diagnose the first case of “mad cow” disease in the U.S. in 2004; ranking in 2006 as one of the top 95 public and private research institutions nationwide by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education; having Guy Palmer, a veterinary pathologist, elected to the National Academy of Science’s Institute in 2006; or having the work of molecular biologist Michael Skinner and his team chosen as one of the top 100 science stories of 2005 by “Discover” magazine.

Students attending commencement will also witness the final commencement for V. Lane Rawlins as the university’s ninth president. He took office in June 2000 and will be succeeded by Elson S. Floyd. Rawlins is the first former WSU faculty member to become the university’s president.

The first commencement at WSU was held in June 1897 and recognized eight students. This year some 2,300 students – about 2,100 undergraduate students and about 200 graduate students – are expected to participate in the ceremony.

In 1986 commencement was decentralized to make the ceremony more personal to students and until 1996 an All-University Commencement Assembly was held along with individual college ceremonies. In 1998 two commencement ceremonies were held. Starting 2000 a three-ceremony format was instituted at the Pullman campus and during the 2001-2002 academic year a fall semester commencement was added in December. WSU campuses in Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver have their own commencement ceremonies.

Some of the commencement ceremony traditions at WSU include the University Mace and the President’s Medallion. Carried by the Faculty Senate Chair, the Mace leads the faculty march. The silver and bronze specter is two foot long and weights nine pounds. It includes a globe atop a laurel branch, wrapped in a silver ribbon and inscribed “Washington State University.”

The president of the university wears the President’s Medallion during commencement ceremonies and other special occasions. The medallion features the WSU shield with the Cougar head and links engraved with the names of past WSU presidents and the dates they served the university. The medallion was created at the request of V. Lane Rawlins and he wore it for the first time in the 2001 spring commencement.