UD prepares for commencement

Nearly 4,000 students are expected to graduate tomorrow as part of the university's 161st Spring Commencement.

The university will confer 3,050 bachelor's degrees, 495 master's degrees, 187 doctoral degrees and 174 associate degrees.  Those figures are estimates dependent on final grades being recorded, according to spokesman John Brennan.

Humanitarian Catherine Bertini will give the commencement address at the 9 a.m. ceremony, which will be held at Delaware Stadium and is open to the public.

Bertini, who served as executive director of the United Nations' World Food Program, is expected to tell the graduates they should do something with their lives that make themselves feel fulfilled and then build on that success.
 
"People need to go with their heart, you know, and decide what makes them really happy," Bertini told The Review earlier this month. "Sometimes that is not what is going to pay the most money. There are a lot of options to really make a difference in the world."

The university will give an honorary degree to Bertini, as well as to Robert W. Gore, and alumnus and trustee who helped invent GORE-TEX fabric; Risa J. Lavizzo–Mourey, a doctor and president of the health care philanthropy organization Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and T. W. Fraser Russell, a recently retired chemistry professor and a consultant for DuPont.

Gov. Jack Markell will also be on hand tomorrow to present academic awards to distiguished graduates.

Officials advise students and guests to arrive early for the ceremony in order to avoid delays in the parking lot. The ceremony will be held rain or shine.

Check udreview.com tomorrow for a live blog during the ceremony and full, multimedia coverage tomorrow afternoon.