Some 500 students in the Class of 2007 are expected to receive their degrees when Union celebrates its 213th Commencement on Sunday, June 17. The ceremony in Hull Plaza in front of Schaffer Library begins at 10 a.m.
Jonathan Young of Walnut, Calif., is this year’s valedictorian, and Leigh Ann Holterman of Albany is the salutatorian. Karyn Amira of Newton, Mass., was chosen student speaker.
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Charles Gibson, anchor of top-ranked ABC’s World News,will deliver the Commencement address. The son of Burdett Gibson ’23 and nephew of Charles D. Gibson ’20 (both Schenectadians), Gibson, 64, is one of the most distinguished journalists in television today. Gibson was covering the House of Representatives for ABC in 1986 when he met with Philip R. Beuth ’54, then an executive at Capital Cities/ABC. Over coffee in the cafeteria, Beuth, now a Union Trustee, asked Gibson to be the male host on Good Morning America.
“Phil Beuth literally changed my life,” Gibson said.
The College will present Gibson with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Sunday, June 17. Richard Sorabji, professor emeritus of philosophy, King’s College, London, will receive a Doctor of Letters. Sorabji joined the faculty at King’s College in 1970 after many years as an associate professor at Cornell University. Since 2000, he has held teaching posts at Gresham College in London, the University of Texas at Austin, New York University and the City University of New York.
Immediately after next Sunday’s ceremony, representatives of Union’s academic departments will host receptions. Look for sites in the Commencement program.
The Saturday, June 16 schedule includes Baccalaureate Commemorations at 4:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel; Baccalaureate Mass at 6 p.m., Old Chapel; and the Garnet Gala, 8 p.m., Rugby Field. Nearly 2,500 are expected to attend the gala, an evening of dessert and dancing.
For more information about Commencement activities, visit www.union.edu/Commencement.