Caps, gowns, tassels and hoods will be the dress code of choice for some 2,850 men and women who will graduate from West Virginia University during 133rd Commencement exercises Sunday, May 19, at the WVU Coliseum. Doors open at noon for the 1:30 p.m. start.

Some will don lilac accents to signify degrees in dentistry; others will display orange for engineering degrees, while education graduates will wear light blue. All colors under the rainbow will be seen from maize, russet and maroon in the agricultural areas to copper and drab for business and economics majors.

But one feeling should be universal among the Class of 2002the thrill of accomplishment, knowing that many years of hard work, hopes and dreams have been fulfilled.

Some 10,000 family members and friends are expected to attend the celebration, many with video cameras and digitals to capture those precious moments; others with signs and banners to get their loved onesattention.

Graduates themselves often don signs on their caps so family members can spot them, with messages like”Thanks Mom and Dad”or”Show Me The Money.”

WVU mathematics graduate and entrepreneur Ray Lane will address grads and receive an honorary doctor of science degree. The man who helped take Oracle Corporation to the top of the computer software industry and now guides established businesses in Internet opportunities and entrepreneurial strategies will reflect on his years at WVU and will likely have some advice for todays future leaders. While he prefers to keep the message a mystery, Lane did disclose the title of his talk, which he dubbed”New Kids, Turtles and the Cabbage Patch.”

Student Government Administration President Chris Ferro from McMechen, W.Va., will address his classmates and receive a degree in psychology. He plans to work in Charleston in state government.

Joining Ferro as part of the Class of 2002 will be some interesting graduatesa father and son duo from the Beckley area who will graduate side by side from the College of Law; a pharmacy graduate from Morgantown who received a heart transplant in October; and another student from Shady Spring who will graduate with not one, but four degrees (biology, English, geography and history)the most believed to have ever been conferred on one person at one time from WVU .

WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. will preside over the ceremony and bestow honorary degrees, distinguished service honors and Vandalia awards to those who have served the University in various ways.

The WVU Choir and Wind Symphony will perform along with organist Randy Woods. M. Hilary Ryon, a graduating senior in voice performance, will sing”A Time to Say Goodbye.”

Two signers from the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Romney will also be on hand as interpreters.

At the conclusion of the approximately 2-21/2 hour ceremony, the WVU Alumni Association invites the Universitys newest alumni and their families to a post commencement open house and reception from 4-6 p.m. at Erickson Alumni Center.

For more information on WVU s commencement activities, visit the website athttp://www.wvu.eduand click on the commencement 2002 icon.