2009 Summer Commencement Ceremony
Set for Friday in Convocation Center

August 5, 2009 -- More than 340 graduates will be awarded diplomas during Arkansas State University’s 2009 summer commencement ceremony Friday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center. ASU Chancellor Robert L. Potts will confer the degrees.

Among the graduates, 256 are receiving bachelor degrees and eight students will receive associate degrees. One student has earned a doctoral degree, with five specialist and 72 master degrees being bestowed. Of the 342 total, nine are graduating cum laude, four magna cum laude, and one with university honors.

Dorothy Frederick of Brookland, who is graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mid-Level Education, is the featured student speaker in centennial year ceremony.

As part of the centennial celebration activities, graduating students have collected items symbolic of their time at the university to be placed in a time capsule and sealed inside one of 25 concrete benches surrounding the Historic Arch in the center of campus. The mementos will be on display during the ceremony.

Successive classes will continue this tradition and the 2009 class will gather in 2034 to open this first-time capsule in conjunction with its 25-year reunion activities.