A record number of degrees expected to be awarded during LSU’s 289th commencement exercises

During LSU’s 289th commencement exercises, more than 4,000 students are expected to receive degrees, which would make the spring class the largest graduating class in LSU’s history.
The main ceremony will take place on Friday, May 13, with the academic procession beginning at 7:45 a.m. and the ceremony beginning at 8 a.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Diploma ceremonies will follow, at various locations across campus.
LSU President F. King Alexander will deliver the keynote address at the main ceremony. Also during the main ceremony, doctoral candidates will receive their diplomas individually, and degrees will be conferred for all students. There will be open admission to the main ceremony.
During the diploma ceremonies, each graduate’s name will be called, and diplomas will be handed out individually on stage. For more information on the times and locations of the college diploma ceremonies, go to http://www.lsu.edu/commencement.
A number of diploma ceremonies will have keynote speakers this year, including:
Landscape Architecture alumnus Lewis May speaking at the College of Art & Design ceremony at 11 a.m. in the Student Union Theater;
Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne  speaking at the Manship School of Mass Communication ceremony at 11 a.m. in the Maddox Fieldhouse;
LSU Executive Vice President & Provost Richard Koubek speaking at the College of Science Ceremony at 2 p.m. in the Maddox Fieldhouse;
Electrical engineering graduate Daniel Lepkowski, a native of Virginia Beach, Va., who received an NSF Graduate Fellowship, speaking at the College of Engineering ceremony at 8 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Diploma ceremonies for respective colleges may or may not require tickets for admission. Those wishing to attend diploma ceremonies are asked to check with the student(s) or contact the respective college(s) for further information.
Alexander will preside over the main ceremony, LSU Board of Supervisors member James Moore will confer degrees and LSU Faculty Senate President and Professor of English Kevin Cope will serve as mace bearer.
The processional and recessional music will be provided by the Brass Quintet. Gregory Gallagher, candidate for Doctor of Musical Art, will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the LSU alma mater.
LSU will also honor about 56 graduating students with the LSU Distinguished Communicator Award. These students earned this honor by meeting high standards set by faculty in various colleges and by the LSU Communication across the Curriculum program. The students earned high grade-point averages in communication-intensive courses – based on written, spoken, visual and technological communication – and have built digital portfolios displayed as public websites that include their communication projects from courses, internships, leadership roles and public service.
About 470 students are expected to graduate with honors, including 64 students who are slated to receive University Medals for graduating with the highest undergraduate grade-point average in the class.
This semester, 64 students are expected to earn College Honors and five students are expected to earn Upper Division Honors Distinction from the LSU Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College. These students participated in a specific honors program and successfully completed and defended an undergraduate thesis.
Some notable spring 2016 graduates include 2014 Truman Scholarship recipient and Scoville Peace Fellow Marlee Pittman, a native of Baton Rouge who will graduate from the College of Humanities & Social Sciences; 2015 Truman Scholarship recipient Michael Beyer, a native of New Orleans who will graduate from the College of Humanities & Social Sciences; Fulbright Binational Internship recipient Valencia Richardson, a native of Shreveport who will graduate from the Manship School of Mass Communication; and 2015 Goldwater Scholarship recipient and NSF Graduate Research Fellow Mollie Smoak, a native of Lafayette who will graduate from the College of Engineering. In addition to Smoak and Lepkowski, other recent NSF Graduate Research Fellows who will graduate this spring include Kurt Ristroph, a native of Baton Rouge; Jennifer Kenyon, a native of Marrero; and Katie Hogan, a native of Choudrant.
A number of ceremonies will take place during LSU’s commencement exercises:
·  Distinguished Communicator Ceremony on May 12 at 10 a.m. in the Business Education Complex room 1510;
·  LSU Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College Ceremony in the Shaver Theatre at 1 p.m. on May 12;
·  ROTC commissioning ceremony, featuring keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Terry L. Gabreski, vice commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, on May 12 at 2 p.m. in the Union Theater;
·  African American Cultural Center’s 20th Anniversary Robing Ceremony on May 12 at 4 p.m. in the Bo Campbell Auditorium.
For more information on commencement, visit www.lsu.edu/commencement.