Commencement 2016
Washington & Jefferson College’s 217th commencement ceremony May 21 will honor national leaders in civil rights, religion and science: civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis; Imam Khalid Latif of the Islamic Center at New York University; Dr. Jean Berko Gleason, a pioneer in the field of psycholinguistics; and chief scientist for NASA, Dr. Ellen Stofan.
“We’ve chosen to honor these four extraordinary leaders because each of them provides an inspiring example for our students to emulate,” said W&J President Dr. Tori Haring-Smith. “We look forward to honoring these individuals for their ability to dream of a better future and help to make those dreams become reality.”
Lewis will deliver the keynote address at the commencement ceremony, which will be held at 10 a.m. on the lawn of Olin Fine Arts Center. A baccalaureate service May 20 will feature Latif as the keynote speaker. The service begins at 6 p.m. at the Church of the Covenant on Beau Street.
Lewis, a nationally recognized leader during the civil rights movement, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws. On March 7, 1965, he helped lead more than 600 peaceful protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in what later became known as Bloody Sunday. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Medal of Freedom, presented by President Barrack Obama. He is also the recipient of a John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage Award” for Lifetime Achievement, granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. A long-serving public official, Lewis was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986.
An honorary Doctor of Divinity will be presented to Latif, executive director and chaplain for the Islamic Center at New York University. He is co-founder of the Of Many Institute, and was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.
Stofan, NASA chief scientist since 2013, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science. She serves as principal advisor to the NASA Administrator and senior officials on agency science programs, planning and investments. Stofan is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Jean Berko Gleason, Ph.D., a professor emerita in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science. She is best known for her breakthrough work on language acquisition in children, and is the inventor of the Wug Test, which uses nonsense words to study children’s understanding of simple language rules.
More information about the baccalaureate service and commencement ceremony as well as information about local accommodations and restaurants, special needs, parking and travel advisories, is available at http://www.washjeff.edu/commencement.
The commencement ceremony will be streamed live via the College’s website at http://www.washjeff.edu/live. The feed will be active 30 minutes before the ceremony. For more information, please contact Erin Jones at ejones@washjeff.edu or 724-223-6535.