Margaret BauerWith Washington University preparing to celebrate its 143rd Commencement ceremony on May 21, another class of seniors will soon see their undergraduate careers at the University come to an end. The Chancellor will confer awards upon the class of 2004 and degree candidates in the University’s graduate programs during Friday’s ceremony.
According to Sue Hosack, director of the Office of Student Records, the Office has recommended 2,934 degrees for distribution at Commencement. Not all of these recommended diplomas will be awarded, however, as some students fail to meet graduation requirements or make a last-minute decision to return for an additional semester.
Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman, a best-selling author and foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times, will return to the University to deliver the Commencement address. Friedman visited the campus in September to deliver the inaugural Assembly Series Sesquicentennial lecture, and his speech on international borders in the 21st century received a great deal of positive attention from the University community.
The Chancellor’s Office had already chosen Friedman to speak at Friday’s Commencement before his Assembly Series lecture last fall, but Assistant to the Chancellor Steve Givens said that the campus and community reaction to Friedman’s presence supported the decision.
“We decided to begin and end the sesquicentennial year with the same speaker,” said Givens. “Based on the reception [Friedman] got in the fall, he was a great choice for Commencement.”
Commencement speakers must be approved by the University’s Board of Trustees to receive an honorary degree. The Chancellor’s Office then looks at the list of degree recipients and chooses which of them would be the best speaker for the ceremony.
Friedman, who will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University, is a highly accomplished journalist and author. His non-fiction writing has won him multiple literary awards, and he has been awarded the much-coveted Pulitzer Prize on three separate occasions. His international reporting in Lebanon and Israel earned him the award in both 1983 and 1988, and he also won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2002. According to the Pulitzer organization’s Web site, Friedman was selected to win the prize in 2002 for his “clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.”
In his 23 years at The New York Times, Friedman has served in a multitude of positions, including chief White House correspondent and bureau chief in Beirut and Israel.
“He’s one of the best at communicating the big problems and big issues,” said Givens. “He’s a good voice for our time.”
As Friedman speaks at the Commencement ceremony, a crowd filled with degree-earning students will listen eagerly while they reflect on their years spent at the University and what changes await them after graduation.
Senior Class Treasurer Joya Deutsch will earn a degree for her work in psychology and philosophy-neuroscience-psychology (PNP). Her after-graduation plans include serving the San Francisco community through the Teach for America program.
“Graduation will be a chance to celebrate my own success as well as the accomplishments of all the friends I’ve made here over the past four years,” said Deutsch.
Senior Justin Buszin, a double major in history and international studies, will go on to graduate school at Brown University, where he will study sociology and demography.
“It’ll be good to see everyone from my freshman floor again [at graduation],” said Buszin. “I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone while at the same time meeting new people [after I leave the University].”
Senior Erin McQuirter, a Spanish and psychology double major, will also continue her education at the graduate level, but she will remain at the University as a student in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.
“I think it’s going to be really great to see all my classmates reunited [at Commencement],” said McQuirter. “I feel like this is the culmination of all our hard work over the past four years, and it’s an honor to have made it this far.”
Undergraduate Commencement Schedule
Thursday, May 20
- 10:30 a.m.-Eliot Honors Convocation
- 1:30 p.m.-School of Engineering & Applied Science Recognition Ceremony
- 4:30 p.m.-College of Arts & Sciences Recognition Ceremony
- 8:00 p.m.-School of Art Recognition Ceremony
Friday, May 21
- 8:30 a.m.-All-University Ceremony
- Following the All-University Ceremony-College of Arts & Sciences Diploma Distribution and Reception in the Sally E. Strain Courtyard; School of Architecture Diploma Ceremony on Brookings Drive Mall; School of Art Diploma Distribution and Reception on Steinberg Hall Terrace; Olin School of Business Diploma and Awards Ceremony in the Field House; School of Engineering & Applied Science Undergraduate Diploma Distribution in Lopata Hall, Room 324