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May Commencement
Sunday (May 11), 9:30 a.m., Kenan Stadium
Severe weather site, Dean E. Smith Center

Soprano Jessye Norman, one of America’s most celebrated performing artists, will give the commencement address Sunday (May 11) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Commencement will begin in Kenan Stadium at 9:30 a.m. Chancellor James Moeser will preside.

Speaker: Norman is known for bringing her joy of singing and passion to recital performances, operatic portrayals and appearances with symphony orchestras and chamber music collaborators to audiences around the world.

In 1997, she was selected to become the youngest recipient of the highest award in U.S. performing arts, the Kennedy Center Honor. In 2006, Norman became only the fourth opera/classical music singer in the history of the Grammy Awards to be presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music.

The University’s Board of Trustees has approved the awarding of an honorary doctor of music degree to Norman during the ceremony.

For more information on Norman, visit
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov07/norman112707.html

Media parking: A limited number of spaces will be reserved in the Public Safety lot off Manning Drive. From Manning Drive, media vehicles should turn onto Paul Hardin/Public Safety Drive (one traffic light west of the intersection of Manning Drive and Ridge Road/Skipper Bowles Drive), then follow the road up and to the left into the Public Safety lot. Media identification will be required to park at the event. Space is limited, so please RSVP via e-mail to Patric Lane, UNC News Services (patric_lane@unc.edu) by Friday, May 9, 12:30 p.m.

Media representatives also may use lots and shuttles provided for commencement guests, and information is on the commencement Web site (www.unc.edu/commencement) and later in this advisory in the “Public Parking” section. Traffic into Chapel Hill is expected to be slow and heavy from about 8-9:45 a.m. Construction projects may affect certain routes through campus. Media representatives are encouraged to visit www.unc.edu/commencement for information on road closings.

Media seating/kits: Media representatives should enter Kenan Stadium through Gate 6, walk left on the stadium concourse, enter at section 120, walk down to the field and turn right to reach media seating, on the field at a gated area on the south side. Pick up media kits from the News Services staff at the media seating area.

Broadcasters, videographers and photographers: Access at the field and surrounding track level will be limited to the designated media seating area. A multbox to supply audio feeds will be at this area. Broadcasters are asked to bring their own drop cords. University representatives will be on hand to guide media to this area, provide escorts for shots facing the platform in the center aisle where some graduates and faculty sit as Norman begins to speak, and to answer any media questions. The setup will include a good spot to shoot crowd reaction. Media representatives will not be permitted in student or guest seating areas.

Graduates: May commencement is held for students completing degree work this spring. The University Registrar has estimated there are 5,509 expected graduates: 3,492 bachelor’s, 1,214 master’s, 204 doctoral and 599 professional degrees and certificates. New Services will provide updates as they are available, but an exact number of May graduates will not be available Sunday. UNC also holds a mid-year ceremony in December to recognize students who finished in August or December.

Honorary degrees: In addition to Norman, this year’s honorary degree recipients are: Nobel Prize-winning chemist Peter Courtland Agre; genome scientist Philip Palmer Green, III; academic leader and public health specialist Heather Munroe-Blum; and North Carolina state senator Anthony Eden Rand. Agre, Green and Munroe-Blum will receive honorary doctor of science degrees; Norman will receive an honorary doctor of music degree; and Rand will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. For more, visit http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/
unc-to-recognize-commencement-speaker-four-others-with-honorary-degrees.html
.

Doctoral hooding ceremony:
UNC will hold a doctoral hooding ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday (May 10) in Memorial Hall. Graduate students will be called to the stage to have the hood of the commencement regalia conferred by their advisers or dissertation committee chairs. It is estimated about 280 graduates will attend the ceremony, the largest turnout ever. This number includes students who earned their Ph.D.s in the past academic year, rather than just in the spring semester.

The speaker for the doctoral hooding ceremony will be Wayne J. Pond. Pond, who earned a Ph.D. in American literature from UNC, is director of the Program in the Humanities and Human Values in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. From 1979 to 1997, he served as the director of public programs at the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park. While there, he produced “Soundings,” a weekly, nationally-syndicated books-and-ideas radio program featuring interviews with scholars, writers, journalists, novelists, poets and visitors at the National Humanities Center. These weekly broadcasts were aired on commercial stations, National Public Radio and the Armed Forces Radio Network. He has published extensively and serves as an education consultant at numerous universities and centers. For more information on the hooding ceremony, visit http://www.unc.edu/commencement/hoodinginfo.html .
 
Baccalaureate and other ceremonies: The Carolina Ministers’ Association and the Office of New Student and Carolina Parents Programs, will sponsor the 2007 Baccalaureate service on Saturday (May 10) at 3 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. This inter-faith service celebrates commencement. All graduates, families and friends are invited to attend. The Rev. Professor Peter Gomes will offer this year’s keynote address. Chancellor Moeser and other distinguished guests will join in fellowship and observance to recognize the Class of 2008. All participates are invited to a reception following the Baccalaureate service.

Several individual schools and departments also will hold their own ceremonies this weekend. Locations and times for other ceremonies are at: http://www.unc.edu/commencement/schedulemay2008.html .

Severe weather: The threat of severe weather – heavy rain accompanied by high winds, thunder or lightning – could move UNC’s commencement ceremony to the Dean E. Smith Center. That decision would be made early Sunday morning. Announcements would be posted on the UNC Web site www.unc.edu, and air on 1610 AM, a low-frequency travelers’ information system, and the University Access Channel (Chapel Hill Time Warner Cable Channel 4). News Services would also notify area radio and TV stations as soon as possible on Sunday morning.

Smith Center parking, media kit, seating:
If severe weather moved the ceremony to the Smith Center, media parking would be accessed from the U.S. 15-501 Bypass, Fordham Boulevard. Media vehicles would turn north onto Manning Drive, left into the first entrance to Bowles Drive, and left into the driveway leading to the rear of the center. Media parking would be in the area closest to Bowles, beside Koury Natatorium. Media identification will be required to enter the Smith Center.

Members of the media should enter the Smith Center via Entrance A, where they can pick up media kits from News Services staff members. Media seating is in section 110. A multbox for an audio feed would be available. Access for photographers and videographers would be limited. University representatives would be on hand to answer questions and provide escorts for facing the platform in the center aisle where some graduates and faculty sit. For other B-roll opportunities, see a News Services staff member.

Public parking and bus/shuttle services: Parking will be limited on campus, and the Department of Public Safety recommends access to the various campus commencement events through free Park and Ride Shuttles from the Dillard’s end of University Mall, or from the Friday Center Park and Ride Lot running from 7:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Return bus service to both park and ride locations will be offered from 1 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. from the Student Union, the Old Well and the Smith Center.

Traffic congestion along South Road is likely to be the heaviest from 8 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. and again from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Motorists who cannot park and ride are advised to access campus toward the south side via Route 15-501 to Columbia Street and Manning Drive, Route 15-501 directly onto Manning Drive, or Pittsboro Street to Manning Drive.  Travel up Raleigh Road to South Road from Highway 54 is not recommended.

Various shuttles will offer service to the stadium from most of the parking lots on south campus, including the Smith Center Lots and the parking decks across from UNC Hospitals beginning at 7:15 a.m.  Return service from the stadium will be offered from the end of the ceremony to approximately 12:30 p.m.  Service back to those parking lots will begin again at 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. from the Old Well, the Student Union and the Dean E. Smith Center.

For more commencement information, visit http://www.unc.commencement .

News Services contacts: Patric Lane, (919) 962-8596 (office), (919) 218-7835 (cell), patric_lane@unc.edu; LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589 (office), (919) 219-6374 (cell), laura_toler@unc.edu; on-call pager (919) 216-2584.

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