West Virginia Universitys Commencement 2000the first outdoor ceremony in recent historywill feature Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, the second Kennedy to visit the Morgantown campus in recent years. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke here in 1996 as part of WVU s popular Festival of Ideas lecture series. Kennedy Cuomo’s speech for the event is titled”Making a World of Difference.”

“What better way to celebrate the graduation of thousands of young men and women from this fine institution, than hearing from one of the nations leading human rights advocates and a member of a family well-known for their service to humanity,”said WVU President David C. Hardesty, in announcing Kennedy Cuomos engagement.”Mrs. Kennedy Cuomo is also the mother of three daughters, so the fact that she is celebrating Mothers Day with WVU and our family of students and parents is indeed very special.”

The 131st commencement ceremony is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 14rain or shineat Mountaineer Field. Gates open to the general public at noon; families and guests should enter through the West or North gates.

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Kennedy Cuomo, an author and founder of the RFK Center for Human Rights, began her work in human rights in 1981 when she investigated abuses committed by U.S. immigration officials against refugees from El Salvador. Since then, her life has been devoted to the vindication of equal justice, to the promotion and protection of basic rights and to the preservation of the rule of law.

She has led 33 human rights delegations to 22 countries around the globe, and is currently writing a book of profiles of 50 human rights defenders.

“In a time of diminished idealism and growing cynicism about public service, her life and lectures are testaments to a commitment to the basic values of human rights,”her bio reads.

Kennedy Cuomo served as executive director, and is now on the Board of Directors, of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, a non-profit organization that addresses social justice issues in the spirit of her late father and New York senator, who was assassinated June 5, 1968.

She ran three programs: The National Juvenile Justice Project, that helps cities create more effective and less costly programs for dealing with young offenders; the RFK Journalism and RFK Book Awards, known as the”poor peoples Pulitzers,”which recognize those authors who prod our conscience and expose the problems of the dispossessed; and the RFK Center for Human Rights, founded in 1988 to ensure the protection of rights codified under the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

She has worked on such diverse issues as child labor, disappearances, land rights, freedom of expression, ethnic violence, impunity, the environment and womens rights. As a special correspondent for the environmental TV news magazine, Network Earth, she has reported on human rights and the environment, and interviewed human rights leaders for Voice of America.

Kennedy Cuomo is co-chair of the Amnesty International Leadership Council, and is a judge for the Reebok Human Rights Award. She serves on several boards, including the African-American Institute and the Bloody Sunday Trust.

A graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School, she is married to U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo.

Prior to traveling to Morgantown on May 14, Kennedy Cuomo will be one of the featured speakers at the Million Mom March in Washington, D.C. earlier in the day.

* COMMENCEMENT 2000 NOTES :*

• A portable plastic floor will be rolled onto the field and approximately 2,200 seats will be set up for graduates.

• A separate 96’-by-16’stage will seat the platform party of between 60-70 guests.

• Gates open to the general public at noon; families and guests should enter and exit through the West or North gates. Tickets are not required.

• At approximately 12:45 p.m., degree candidates and faculty should enter through the East Gate. Doctoral degree candidates only should report to the Southeast Tunnel entrance.

• The Puskar Center, adjacent to the stadium, will be used for robing by the platform party and special guests.

• Families and guests will be seated in the lower deck on the West Side (press box side) of Mountaineer Field.

• Wheelchair seating is located behind sections 113, 114, 116, 117 and 131; wheelchairs are the responsibility of the individual. Reservations are not required.

• Special seating is available for those with physical limitations in climbing steps and for those requiring the services of the signers; call 304-293-2769 for reservations.

• Handicap parking will be outside the West Gate and in the middle section of the hospital parking area near the flag poles. A shuttle bus service for the handicapped will travel between these two points.

• In the event of rain, graduates and their guests are advised to dress appropriately; rain ponchos will be provided to graduates. While umbrellas are not encouraged, their use is permitted.

• In the event of severe weather (tornado, torrential downpour, etc.), the ceremony may be shortened or canceled. If that occurs, stay tuned to local broadcast stations for information, or call 293-4764.

• Candidates for doctoral degrees will receive their diplomas during the ceremony. Other graduates will receive their diplomas after the ceremony (approximately 4 p.m.) at distribution points arranged by the college or school (check with the respective college for details). Many will be set up in Tent City, just outside the stadium.

• The University Choir and WVU Brass Ensemble will perform during the ceremony.

• WVU s three regional campuses will hold their commencement exercises on the following dates and feature the following speakers:

West Virginia University-Parkersburg, May 13, 2 p.m., Gerald E. Lang, Provost/VP, Academic Affairs, West Virginia University

West Virginia University Institute of Technology, May 6, 10 a.m., William P. Getty, President&Trustee of Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Potomac State College of WVU , May 6, 11 a.m., U.S. Naval Admiral T. Joseph Lopez.