Skip to main content
Intellect

Elder W. Rolfe Kerr to speak at BYU Commencement Exercises Aug. 17

Elder W. Rolfe Kerr, commissioner of the Church Educational System and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be the featured speaker during Brigham Young University's August 2006 Commencement Exercises Thursday, Aug. 17, at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center.

Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, president of BYU and also a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, will conduct the exercises, and BYU Alumni Association president Craig McIlroy and graduating senior Rachel Kimball Wilcox will also speak.

Music will be provided by the University Chorale under the direction of Paul Broomhead and Alan Zabriskie.

Both KBYU-TV (Channel 11) and KBYU-FM (89.1) will broadcast the exercises live.

The academic processional to the Marriott Center for graduates, representatives of the BYU administration, faculty and staff will leave the Abraham Smoot Building parking areas on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Most campus offices will close on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. to accommodate the services.

The traditional "Meet the President" event, where President Samuelson and his wife, Sharon, will greet graduates and their guests, will be Friday, Aug. 18, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the Museum of Art.

Individual College Convocation assignments for Friday are as follows:

8 a.m.

  • Biology and Agriculture, Marriott Center

  • School of Education, Smith Fieldhouse

  • Kennedy Center, Joseph Smith Auditorium

  • Fine Arts and Communications, de Jong Concert Hall

  • Physical and Mathematical Science, Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom 11 a.m.

  • Humanities, Marriott Center

  • Engineering andTechnology, Smith Fieldhouse

  • Nursing, Joseph Smith Auditorium

  • Family, Home and Social Science (School of Family Life), Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom 2 p.m.

  • Family, Home and Social Science, Marriott Center

  • Health and Human Performance, Smith Fieldhouse 5 p.m.

  • Marriott School of Management, Marriott Center In addition, BYU's Air Force ROTC program will commission three graduating students Friday, Aug. 18, at 9 a.m. at the ROTC Building.

    Graduates and their guests are encouraged to avoid using cellular phones during the commencement and convocation services.

    Writer: Cecelia Fielding

    Kerr-h.jpg
    Photo by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

    Related Articles

    data-content-type="article"

    Wildflowers not wildfires: How BYU and Provo City are helping to restore Rock Canyon Trailhead

    July 10, 2025
    At Rock Canyon Trailhead in Provo, Utah, BYU researchers are fighting fires with flowers. By replacing a problematic weed called cheatgrass with wildflowers, students and faculty are working to protect and restore one of Provo’s most popular hiking spots.
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
    data-content-type="article"

    Wildfires in residential areas are on the rise; why hydrants and the water system behind them were never meant to stop those fires

    July 01, 2025
    BYU professor Rob Sowby teaches and studies environmental engineering, urban water infrastructure and sustainability. He has particular expertise in the planning, design, construction and operation of public water systems. That expertise has been increasingly important (and regularly sought out) in the wake of apocalyptic wildfires that have taxed those public water systems.
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
    data-content-type="article"

    Meet the BYU math student helping make wildfire predictions faster and smarter

    June 25, 2025
    Using machine learning and math, a BYU student improved a key tool firefighters rely on during wildfire season
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=