EIU Media Relations

EIU Fall Commencement Ceremonies Set for Saturday, Dec. 14

More than 600 graduates plan to participate in Eastern Illinois University's Fall 2013 commencement ceremonies, scheduled to take place Saturday, Dec. 14, in Lantz Arena.

Ceremonies will take place at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  Guest tickets are required for admission.

Students from the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences and the College of Arts and Humanities will march in the morning ceremony, while students from the College of Education and Professional Studies, the College of Sciences and the School of Continuing Education (Bachelor of Arts in General Studies Degree) will march in the afternoon.  Graduate students will march with their respective colleges.

President William L. Perry will preside over the ceremonies.  Music will be provided by the EIU Wind Symphony.

Timothy L. Burke will present the “Charge to the Class” during the morning ceremony, while his wife, Vickie Krupp Burke, will speak in the afternoon.  The couple met while students at EIU, and have continued their relationship with their alma mater through the years.  The Burkes established the Louis V. Hencken Housing Services Scholarship, are past recipients of the Louis V. Hencken Alumni Services Award, are members of the EIU Foundation, and served on the steering committee for the university’s recently complete capital campaign.

Representing Eastern's Board of Trustees will be Jan Spivey Gilchrist of Olympia Fields at 10 a.m. and Mitchell Gurick of Hinsdale at 1 p.m.

Traditionally, a commencement marshal leads the commencement procession while carrying the university mace, a symbol of honor accorded a faculty member.  The commencement marshal for the 10 a.m. ceremony will be Peter P. Liu, who, as a professor of technology, will represent the Graduate School.  Representing the School of Continuing Education at 1 p.m. will be W. Andrew Robinson, instructor of communication studies.

An EIU tradition also allows faculty members the honor of carrying the college banner for his/her college during the procession.

This semester’s faculty marshals for the morning ceremony are Marko Grunhagen, professor of marketing and the Lumpkin Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, representing the Graduate School and the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences; Charles W. Wootton, professor, School of Business, representing the LCBAS; Tim N. Taylor, associate professor of English, representing the Graduate School and the College of Arts and Humanities; and Jerry L. Daniels, professor and chair, Department of Music, representing the CAH.

This year's faculty marshals for the afternoon ceremony are Catherine L. Polydore, assistant professor, Counseling and Student Development, representing the Graduate School and the College of Education and Professional Studies; Janet L. Carpenter, instructor, early childhood, elementary and middle level education, representing the CEPS; Michael Menze, assistant professor, biological sciences, representing the Graduate School and the College of Sciences; Lynn Calvert, associate professor, communication disorders and sciences, representing the COS; and Donna Coonce, instructor, family and consumer sciences, representing the School of Continuing Education.

Jade N. Owen, a psychology major from Mattoon, will serve as Honors College banner marshal during both ceremonies.

Additionally, Andrew Methven, who was selected as EIU’s 2013 Luis Clay Mendez Distinguished Service Award recipient for his contributions to the university, the field of biological sciences and the community, will be formally recognized.  The award honors the memory of Mendez, an EIU professor of Spanish who died in 2003.