Future looking brighter for DePauw grads-to-be

Friday, May 15, 2015
Preparing for Sunday's 10:30 a.m. commencement ceremony, DePauw University seniors conduct a walk-through Friday morning before taking part in a senior picnic. (Photo by LARRY LIGGET)

The Greencastle weather forecast for Sunday is looking brighter -- in more ways than one -- as DePauw University prepares to graduate about 500 students.

While two days ago, forecasters were calling for a wet weekend, as of noon Friday the outlook had been revised to partly cloudy skies Sunday with a high of around 80 degrees. Scattered thundershowers are also forecast, but not until Sunday evening.

DePauw's 176th commencement ceremony is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. in Holton Memorial Quadrangle in front of the Roy O. West Library. In the event of adverse conditions, the proceedings will be moved to the Lilly Center.

Friday morning, members of the Class of 2015 gathered for a walk-through of Sunday's ceremony and then enjoyed lunch served in the Ubben Quad.

Ruth J. Simmons, president emerita of Brown University, will address DePauw's Class of 2015.

Simmons, named Brown's 18th president in 2001, became the first African-American to lead an Ivy League school before retiring in 2012.

A featured speaker at the White House, the World Economic Forum, the National Press Club and the American Council on Education, Simmons will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from DePauw during the ceremony.

Cultural historian Joseph Horowitz and acclaimed poet Ridney Jones will also be awarded honorary doctorates at the ceremony.

Horowitz, who will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree, is considered one of the most prominent and widely-published writers on topics in American music. A pioneering force in the development of thematic programming and new concert formats, Horowitz is credited with coining the term "PostClassical Music" for the art music of today.

Jones, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award, will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from DePauw.

For those unable attend, a webcast of the commencement program will be available at DePauw's video portal (once there, click "watch").

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