A member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of the Brigham Young University Board of Trustees is scheduled to preside at BYU’s April 2007 Commencement Exercises Thursday, April 26, 2007, at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Dick Cheney, vice president of the United States, will address the graduates at the commencement ceremony, which will be conducted by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, president of BYU and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ. BYU Alumni Association President Craig McIlroy and graduating senior Steven John Pearson will also speak.
Additionally, BYU and the Board of Trustees will bestow five honorary doctoral degrees. Vice President Cheney will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service. Ira and Mary Lou Fulton will receive respectively an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering and an Honorary Doctorate of Education, and Jack R. and Mary Lois Wheatley will each receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. All four are long-time supporters of the university.
KBYU-TV (Channel 11), BYU Television, BYU Radio and KBYU-FM (89.1) will provide live coverage of the exercises. There will be one rebroadcast on BYU Television April 28 at 4:30 p.m. MDT, and it will be available on video-on-demand to Comcast digital cable subscribers in Utah from April 28 to May 7.
More than 6,000 students will be awarded bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees during the graduation exercises. There will be no academic processional, and admission is by ticket only. Graduates should arrive at the Marriott Center by 2 p.m. carrying robes and caps. The Marriott Center will open at 1 p.m. for guests to be seated. All attendees will be screened before entering the Marriott Center, and, once admitted, they will be required to remain inside the building. Attendees and participants should review the guidelines listed on their tickets (front and back), including what items will not be allowed in the Marriott Center. Cameras and cell phones will be permitted.
Live and media entertainment will be provided prior to the exercises, including a performance by Vocal Point, BYU’s award-winning a cappella ensemble, at 1:30 p.m.
Most campus offices will close Thursday at noon.
Thursday’s event will also include the commissioning of graduates from BYU’s ROTC programs. The Air Force will commission 18 cadets at 11 a.m. in 3220-3222 Wilkinson Student Center with Col. Gail Halvorsen speaking. Twelve students will graduate from the Army ROTC at 12:30 p.m. in 214 Crabtree Building, where Major Gen. Peter S. Cooke will speak.
On Friday, the annual “Meet the President” event, where President Samuelson and his wife, Sharon, meet and greet graduates and parents, will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Museum of Art.
Friday’s individual college convocations, which will not require tickets, are as follows:
8 a.m. — Marriott School of Management in the Marriott Center, David O. McKay School of Education in the Smith Fieldhouse, David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies in the JSB Auditorium; Fine Arts and Communications (Visual Arts) in the de Jong Concert Hall; Physical and Mathematical Sciences in the WSC Ballroom; and Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology (Technology) in the Provo Tabernacle.
11 a.m. — Biology and Agriculture in the Marriott Center; Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology (Engineering) in the Smith Fieldhouse; Nursing in the JSB Auditorium; Family, Home and Social Sciences (School of Family Life) in the WSC Ballroom; and Fine Arts and Communications (Communications) in the de Jong Concert Hall.
2 p.m. — Humanities in the Marriott Center; Health and Human Performance in the Smith Fieldhouse; Family, Home and Social Sciences (School of Social Work) in the JSB Auditorium; Fine Arts and Communications (Music, Theatre and Media Arts, Music Dance Theatre) in the de Jong Concert Hall; and J. Reuben Clark Law School in the Provo Tabernacle.
5 p.m. — Family, Home and Social Sciences in the Marriott Center.
For additional or last-minute information, click on the Graduation link on the BYU homepage, www.byu.edu.
