President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will receive an honorary doctorate and will be the presiding authority during Brigham Young University’s April 2009 Commencement Exercises Thursday, April 23, at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will also speak during the commencement.
Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, president of BYU and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy of the Church, will conduct the service, and representatives from the BYU Board of Trustees and administration will also be present.
Student speaker Joseph R. Nance, receiving his degree in humanities with minors in French and Italian, will represent the graduates, who will also be welcomed into the BYU Alumni Association by Alumni President Dee Allsop.
The musical number will be by the BYU Singers, "I Feel Like I'm on My Journey Home," an old American spiritual arranged and conducted by Ronald J. Staheli.
The exercises will be broadcast live on KBYU-TV (Channel 11) and KBYU-FM (89.1).
Graduates will meet at 3 p.m. in the Abraham Smoot Building parking lot prior to the processional while parents and family should be seated in the Marriott Center by 3:45 p.m. Doors will open at 2 p.m. The graduate processional will begin at 3:15 p.m., weather permitting.
Most campus offices will close Thursday at 2:30 p.m. to accommodate the services.
Members of the BYU community are reminded that no parking will be available from midnight Wednesday, April 22, until 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in Lot 1A north of the Abraham Smoot Building and in a small portion of the timed parking Lot 2A north of the Museum of Art. Vehicles parked in those locations during those hours will be towed.
All faculty members are invited to march in the processional at 3:15 p.m. Faculty should be on either the east or west side of the ASB by 3:10 p.m. In the event of inclement weather, faculty should go directly to the Marriott Center by 3:45 p.m. Line marshals will direct faculty to reserved chair seating on the playing floor.
BYU’s Army ROTC will commission 10 cadets at a ceremony Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center, third floor. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Lorenzo Allred will be the speaker at this year’s commissioning. The Air Force ROTC will commission 17 cadets at a ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 25, in the WSC Ballroom. The speaker at this year’s commissioning will be Tom Holmoe, BYU athletic director.
On Friday, April 24, the “Meet the President” event, when President Samuelson and his wife, Sharon, will meet and greet the graduates and their guests, will take place from 9-11 a.m. in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center.
Friday’s individual college convocations are as follows:
8 a.m. — College of Humanities in the Marriott Center; McKay School of Education in the Smith Fieldhouse; David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium; College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in the Wilkinson Center Ballroom; College of Fine Arts and Communications (Communications, Theatre and Media Arts) in the de Jong Concert Hall; and the College of Engineering and Technology (technology) in the Provo Tabernacle.
11 a.m. — College of Family Home and Social Sciences (all majors except Family Life) in the Marriott Center; College of Engineering and Technology (Engineering) in the Smith Fieldhouse; College of Nursing in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium; and Fine Arts and Communications (Music, Music Dance Theate, and Visual Arts) in the de Jong Concert Hall.
2 p.m. — College of Life Sciences in the Marriott Center; College of Health and Human Performance in the Smith Fieldhouse; College of Family, Home and Social Sciences (Family Life) in the Wilkinson Center Ballroom; and the J. Reuben Clark Law School in the Provo Tabernacle.
5 p.m. — Marriott School of Management in the Marriott Center.
All candidates participating in commencement are expected to abide by BYU standards of conduct, dress and grooming, whether the candidate is a current BYU student or a former student returning to receive his or her degree.
Graduates and their guests are asked not to use cellular phones during the commencement and convocation exercises.
For more information, visit graduation.byu.edu.
Writer: Angela Fischer
