SUNY Fredonia Commencement is slated for Saturday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., in the Steele Hall arena on campus. The keynote speaker for both Commencement ceremonies is Washington, D.C., attorney Dale A. Cooter, a SUNY Fredonia alumnus of the Class of 1970.
Local television coverage of Commencement 2012 will begin at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., with coverage of both ceremonies combining undergraduate and master's degree and advanced certificate graduates.
Viewers can watch the broadcast on Time Warner Cable Channels 5 and 17 in Fredonia, Cassadaga, Brocton and Stockton, and Channel 19 in Dunkirk, Silver Creek, Forestville and Hanover.
SUNY Fredonia will also have live streaming video of the Commencement ceremonies. There will be a link to connect from the university's home page at www.fredonia.edu.
Senior Class President Maggie C. Oliver will speak at both ceremonies and the Lanford Presidential Prize from the Oscar and Esther Lanford Endowment of the Fredonia College Foundation will be awarded to Zhuojun (Georgie) Fu of Shanghai, China, during the morning ceremony. Ms. Fu is graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication-Public Relations, with a second major in Computer Science-Applied Math.
College Council Chair Frank Pagano will offer greetings at both ceremonies.
Music groups performing include the Fredonia Wind Ensemble and Fredonia Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Paula Holcomb.
The Fredonia Women's Choir, under the direction of SUNY Fredonia alumnus Justin Pomietlarz, vocal music director at Amherst High School, will perform, "If," a work composed by School of Music Director Karl Boelter based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling.
Kyle T. Sackett, who will graduate Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor of music degree with a major in music education, will sing the national anthem at the morning ceremony, and Tami M. Papagiannopoulos, who will graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor of music degree with a major in music performance, will sing the national anthem at the afternoon ceremony.
