WMU News

Commencement ceremonies set for June 27

June 16, 1998

KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University President Diether H. Haenicke will be awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree as he presides over his last commencement exercises at the University Saturday, June 27, in Miller Auditorium.

Haenicke plans to retire July 31 after 13 years as president to return to the faculty. He will receive his degree at the second of two ceremonies.

The 9 a.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the Haworth College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Health and Human Services. The 11:30 a.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the College of Fine Arts and the Division of Continuing Education's General University Studies Program.

A total of 1,031 bachelor's, 496 master's, two specialist's and 15 doctoral degrees will be awarded. Students who are completing their degrees at the end of the spring session in June, as well as those who will finish at the end of the summer session in August, are invited to participate in the ceremonies. WMU has no August commencement.

Music for the ceremonies will be performed by organist Gary Forsleff. The national anthem and the alma mater will be sung by WMU's chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia professional music fraternity. The graduates will be welcomed as new alumni of the University by Robert G. Miller, president of the WMU Alumni Association.

The Rev. Douglas Johns of the First United Methodist Church in Warsaw, Ind., will give the invocation at the 9 a.m. ceremony. His sister, Jill S. Johns of Kalamazoo, will be receiving a master of arts degree in counselor education and counseling psychology. The Rev. J. Louis Felton of the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church of Kalamazoo will give the benediction at the 9 a.m. ceremony.

John Fleckenstein of the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, who holds his bachelor's and master's degrees from WMU, will give the invocation and benediction at the 11:30 a.m. ceremony.

Tickets are not required for the ceremonies. If guests cannot find seats in Miller Auditorium, they may view the exercises on a large-screen television in Room 3512 of Knauss Hall. Each ceremony will air live on Channel 7 of EduCABLE, the University's cable television system, and on Channel 30 of Kalamazoo Community Access Television.

The University's Office of Video Services is providing an opportunity for persons to purchase videotapes of each of the two ceremonies. Orders may be placed by calling 387-5003. The tapes are $20 each.

Media contact: Ruth Stevens; ruth.stevens@wmich.edu


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