***The University has a comprehensive alternate plan in place for Commencement Weekend events if extraordinary circumstances dictate changes. Call (202) 994-5050 or visit www.gwu.edu throughout the weekend for up-to-the-minute schedule information. FRIDAY 5.
During this weekend's Commencement ceremonies, graduates will be praised for their achievements. Soon, they will be memorialized in bricks - or books, if the sentiment strikes them and they fill out the necessary form. Every year, GW commemorates its students by etching the name, degree and graduating year of all graduates, free of charge, on a brick to be laid on campus.
Ticket sales indicate that GW's annual gala at Union Station on the eve of Commencement will be sparsely attended for a second consecutive year, despite a well-advertised decrease in admission prices. Monumental Celebration, a traditional bash for graduating seniors, their families and friends, was attended by about 3,000 people last May, a 1,500-person drop from the year before.
When senior Michelle Lee graduates on Sunday, most of her family will not be in the audience cheering for her - they will be graduating as well. Michelle is the youngest member of what is believed to be GW's first group of four family members to graduate together.
Three distinguished professionals receiving honorary degrees will accompany CBS correspondent Andy Rooney in addressing graduates at the May 22 Commencement. Miami Herald publisher Alberto Ibarguen, Army medical researcher and doctor Philip Russell and Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Mildred Dresselhaus will each speak for a few minutes at the ceremony on the Ellipse.
Senior Demetria Tipps introduced the guest speaker at her high school graduation four years ago. But at Sunday's Commencement ceremony on the Ellipse, Tipps will have a chance to address her graduating peers - and the thousands of friends and family also in attendance.
"How GW are you?" asks the MyGW Web site's quiz, which countless bright-eyed, eager freshmen take each summer at Colonial Inauguration. With choices such as "Ride the Metro after midnight" or "Visit the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial," how could one spend four years of his or her life here and not be GW? The National Mall is a GW student's backyard; the White House is a next-door neighbor.
The graduating class of 2005 is full of honor-roll students, presidents of student organizations and students who will go on to exciting places and careers. In search of students with more than an impressive GPA, The Hatchet spoke with faculty and students to find 10 intriguing graduating seniors.
The University began executing arrangements for 22,000 students, guests, faculty and administrators Monday, preparing for Sunday's Commencement ceremony on the White House Ellipse. Approximately 300 students have been hired to work the week's festivities, which will see some changes from previous years.
When GW graduate Jen Tobia wants to see some of her fellow alumni, all she has to do is hop on the Metro. "It's fun when you have friends who live along the Orange line, because they're all willing to meet up," she said.
Vol. 106
An Independent Student Newspaper
Serving The George Washington University Community Since 1904
