NU will host several ceremonies to commemorate Fall 2009 graduates including a pinning ceremony for nursing students as well as Baccalaureate on Friday, Dec. 11, and Commencement on Dec. 12.
Senior Class of 2009 Nursing Pinning Ceremony
The Newman University School of Nursing and Allied Health will honor candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree at the annual Nurses’ Pinning Ceremony, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11 in Performance Hall, inside the De Mattias Fine Arts Center. During the event, a tradition in the nursing discipline, the director of the School of Nursing and Allied Health will place nursing pins on graduate candidates’ lapels as a symbol of their completion of the BSN program. The ceremony will also feature the naming of the Distinguished BSN Graduate Award.
Baccalaureate Mass and Reception
The Fall 2009 Baccalaureate Mass will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, in the historic St. John’s Chapel on the Newman campus. Mass will be followed by a reception at approximately 8 p.m. in the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center.
Commencement
Fall 2009 Commencement will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Central Community Church, 6100 W. Maple. This year, more than 180 candidates for associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees will take part in Commencement exercises. The ceremony will include an address by Newman Assistant Professor of English Marguerite Regan, Ph.D., who received the 2009 Newman University Teaching Excellence Award.
Honorary Degrees
During Commencement, Newman officials will also bestow Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa degrees to three notable and accomplished members of the extended Newman community. The honorary degrees are awarded each fall and spring commencement to individuals whose life and work reflect exemplary dedication to one of the university’s four Core Values: Catholic Identity, Culture of Service, Academic Excellence, and Global Perspective.For the fall 2009 ceremony, Monsignor William M. Carr will receive an honorary degree as a model of Catholic Identity. Msgr. Carr has served the Church and the Wichita Diocese for close to 50 years in a variety of appointments, and is highly respected as an author of several publications produced by the Sunday Missal Service, a national publisher of periodical missals and background materials for the liturgy.
Fran and Geri Jabara will receive degrees for their work in support of Academic Excellence. In addition to Fran’s accomplishments as an accounting faculty member at Wichita State University for more than 40 years, the Jabaras have provided generous philanthropic support to institutions of higher learning across the nation.
