It’S Commencement Time For Area Colleges

(From For the Record, May 5, 2000): Location wrong: Washington State University-Spokane’s graduation ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. today at the Spokane Opera House. The location was wrong in a story in Thursday’s paper.

The Inland Northwest college commencement season kicks off this week with ceremonies for graduating Washington State University students.

WSU-Spokane and the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education will award degrees Friday at 2 p.m. in the Spokane Arena.

Commencement ceremonies for approximately 2,800 undergraduates in Pullman begin at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Statewide, WSU will award an estimated 4,574 bachelor’s degrees, 786 master’s degrees and 161 doctoral degrees.

Retiring WSU President Sam Smith will be the commencement speaker for the Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver branch campus ceremonies.

Smith also will preside over the Pullman ceremony, where state Attorney General Christine Gregoire is scheduled to speak at 8 a.m. in the Beasley Coliseum. Kenneth Alhadeff, a WSU regent, business leader and philanthropist, will address the 11:30 a.m. ceremony, followed by WSU graduate and former astronaut John Fabian, who speaks at a 3 p.m. ceremony.

WSU’s Tri-Cities commencement will be at 6 p.m. May 12 in the Tri-Cities Coliseum. A May 13 ceremony in the outdoor campus plaza is scheduled for the Vancouver campus.

In Spokane, Gonzaga University’s commencement exercises are May 12-14. Ceremonies will begin at 5 p.m. May 12 in the Martin Centre with Col. William T. Grisoli, commander of the 555th Combat Engi neer Group at Fort Lewis, Wash.

The law school commencement begins at 10 a.m. May 13 in Martin Centre and features Washington state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen, a 1977 Gonzaga graduate.

Charles T. Collins, a prominent figure in Washington state education, is the keynote speaker for the graduate school ceremonies at 5 p.m. May 13 in Martin Centre. Phyllis Campbell, president of U.S. Bank of Washington and North Idaho, will be featured at the undergraduate ceremony at 10 a.m. May 14, in the Spokane Arena.

Whitworth College and the University of Idaho also will hold commencement ceremonies next weekend.

Whitworth’s 4 p.m. May 14 ceremony in the Spokane Arena will feature Raja Tanas, a popular long-time professor in the sociology department. Whitworth President William P. Robinson will speak at the graduate commencement at 10 a.m. May 13 in the Cowles Memorial Auditorium.

UI’s graduation ceremonies are scheduled for 9 a.m. May 13 in the Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center, with featured speaker Elaine Ambrose, president of the UI Alumni Association.

Marilyn Shuler, former director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, and Rosalie Sorrels, an Idaho folk singer, will receive honorary degrees.

Individual college ceremonies will follow throughout the day. A ceremony for UI students in Coeur d’Alene will be held Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Boswell Hall-Schuler Auditorium.

North Idaho College commencement ceremonies are scheduled for 10 a.m., May 19, at Christiansen Gymnasium on the NIC campus. Northwest human rights advocate Bill Wassmuth will be the featured speaker.

Gov. Gary Locke will give the main address at Eastern Washington University’s graduation June 10 at 9 a.m. at Woodward Field in Cheney.

The Community Colleges of Spokane will hold a series of graduations between June 15-24.