Skip to main content
 

Media representatives are invited to attend the spring Commencement ceremony at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Media representatives are invited to attend the spring Commencement ceremony at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sunday (May 13)
9:30 a.m.
Kenan Stadium (rain or shine)
Commencement website: http://commencement.unc.edu/may.php
Commencement live stream link: http://commencement.unc.edu/may-video.php

Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP, will deliver the spring Commencement address Sunday (May 13) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chancellor Holden Thorp will preside at the ceremony.

Speaker: For the release announcing Bloomberg as Commencement speaker, visit http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4787/107/

During the ceremony, honorary degrees will be awarded to Bloomberg as well as David S. Ferriero, Thomas W. Lambeth, Branford Marsalis and Katharine Lee Reid. For information on all five of this year’s honorary degree recipients, visit http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5275/68/.

Graduates: May Commencement is for students completing degree work this spring or summer. The official number of graduates is not yet available, as not all grades have been recorded or students cleared for graduation. But the University Registrar estimates that 5,683 students will graduate Sunday: 3,511 with bachelor’s, 1,247 master’s, 258 doctoral and 667 professional degrees. The last are from the schools of dentistry, law, medicine, nursing and pharmacy.

Media parking: A limited number of spaces will be reserved in the Department of Public Safety lot off Manning Drive. From Manning, turn onto Paul Hardin/Public Safety Drive (one traffic light west of the intersection of Manning and Skipper Bowles Drive/Ridge Road) and turn left into the public safety lot. Media identification will be required. Do not park in numbered spaces except No. 1 through No. 8. Media also may park in visitor spaces. Please RSVP to Karen Moon (karen_moon@unc.edu) no later than noon Friday (May 11).

Media representatives also may use lots and shuttles provided for Commencement guests, explained at http://www.dps.unc.edu/NewsLinks/CommencementWeb/Commencement.htm. Traffic into Chapel Hill is expected to be slow and heavy from about 8 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.

Media kits/seating: From the parking lot, walk past the trees to Kenan Stadium. Enter through Gate 6. Walk left, enter at section 120, walk down to the field and turn right to reach media seating on the field. Media kits will be available there from Karen Moon of the News Services staff. Media representatives will not be permitted in student or guest seating areas during the ceremony.

Broadcasters, videographers and photographers: Audio feeds will be available. Access to the field and surrounding track level will be limited to the designated media seating area. The setup will include a good spot for shots of crowd reaction. Broadcasters are asked to bring their own drop cords. At the start of Bloomberg’s speech, News Services staff will escort photographers for brief straight-on shots of the platform.

Doctoral hooding ceremony: The doctoral hooding ceremony will be held 10 a.m. Saturday (May 12) at the Dean E. Smith Center. Graduate students, including those who earned their Ph.D.s in the past academic year rather than just in the spring semester, will come to the stage to have the hood of the Commencement regalia conferred by their advisers or dissertation committee chairs. The Hooding Ceremony will also be shown live via web stream. (http://commencement.unc.edu/may-hooding-video.php)

Marc Levoy, whose career achievements include developing the cartoon animation system used in “The Flintstones” television show and launching Google’s Street View project, is the speaker. Levoy, who received his doctoral degree in computer science from Carolina in 1989, is the VMWare Founders Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, with a joint appointment in Stanford’s electrical engineering department. He helped create the field of computational photography.

Other ceremonies: Many individual schools and departments will hold their own ceremonies this weekend. Locations and times are posted at http://commencement.unc.edu/may-ceremonies.php

In particular, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. will deliver the Commencement address for the UNC School of Law. The law school Commencement service will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday (May 12) in Carmichael Arena. Media representatives who plan to cover Holder’s speech should RSVP to Allison Reid (919-843-7148, allison_reid@unc.edu), who will provide logistical information for coverage.

Inclement weather: The Commencement ceremony will be held in Kenan Stadium, rain or shine. If it rains during Commencement, the ceremony could be shortened, but it will not be relocated. If severe weather threatens and attendees’ safety is at risk, the ceremony will be canceled, and News Services will inform media representatives about the cancellation.

Bloomberg photo:
http://urxserve.ur.unc.edu/netpub/server.np?find&site=Luminosity&catalog=catalog&template=view.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=11078

News Services contacts: Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595 (office), (919) 218-2467 (cell), karen_moon@unc.edu or Mike McFarland, (919) 614-5436 (cell), mike_mcfarland@unc.edu
On-call pager: (919) 216-2584

Comments are closed.