ONEONTA _ Thousands are expected Saturday for SUNY Oneonta's 120th commencement, the college announced in a media release.
Honorary SUNY doctorates will be presented to Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler. Both recipients will address the class of 2009 as the commencement speakers.
The college will offer two ceremonies in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House, one at 10 a.m. and one at noon. Which ceremony students attend depends upon their major.
After each ceremony, graduates and their guests will participate in one of several divisional ceremonies, during which graduates will receive individual diplomas and awards.
In all, 1,577 students are expected to be awarded degrees, the release said, with more than 1,000 participating in the annual ceremony. That will include graduates who completed the requirements for bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and certificates of advanced study in the summer or fall 2008 or spring 2009.
At the ceremony, the release said, it is expected that college President Nancy Kleniewski will offer the welcome and introduction of honored guests, and Patrick Brown, chairman of the College Council, will greet the assembly.
Kleniewski and Provost F. Daniel Larkin are expected to present the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching to Associate Professor Renee Walker, department of anthropology, and Assistant Professor Brian Beitzel, department of educational psychology and counseling.
Betty Winchester, secretary of the communication arts department, will receive the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service.
Kleniewski and Larkin will confer degrees on graduates, the release said.
Brown will join Kleniewski in presenting honorary SUNY doctorates to Garber and Butler, after which they will speak.
Also planned Saturday, the college said, are remarks from senior class President Sarah Cascone, Student Association President Dean McGowan, and Karen Brown, vice president of the Alumni Association.
Music will be provided by the Catskill Brass under the direction of Professor Carleton Clay. Selections will include the premier performance of "Recessional, Oneonta, 2009," an original piece composed by Clay and dedicated to Alexandra Kraus and fellow graduates.
The Mohawk Valley Frasers will provide bagpipe music for the processional. Vocalist and 2009 graduate Joshua Rothberg will lead the audience in singing the national anthem and the alma mater.
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Douglas Shrader of the philosophy department will serve as the mace bearer.
