More than a dozen commencement ceremonies, including one featuring a former U.S. president and another with “The Logo.”

An Honors Convocation.

All spread out over three days.

It’ll be a busy weekend at West Virginia University May 14-16 and you can watch it all unfold on the Internet.

Be sure to update your browser and Flash player to watch all of WVU's commencements live on the Internet. Webcasts available at http://commencement.wvu.edu.

For the first time, WVU is webcasting all of its commencement ceremonies, enabling WVU alumni, friends and the public to join graduates’ families in viewing commencement addresses, including former President William J. Clinton and WVU graduate and NBA great Jerry West – just two of the outstanding speakers at this year’s graduation ceremonies.

“This is an ambitious but important undertaking,” said Assistant Vice President for University Communications Becky Lofstead. “We have some high-profile, impressive speakers. We want as many people as possible to enjoy them.”

Nine staff members will set up at the Coliseum, Creative Arts Center, Student Recreation Center and Morgantown Event Center to catch important messages and memories.

Webcast producer Christopher Southard said the point of offering live video of the ceremonies is to make them more accessible.

“By streaming these events live we’re giving family members who aren’t able to attend and see their graduates an opportunity to watch the ceremony as if they were there,” Southard said.

To access the webcasts, a Flash player is required and the latest version of the browser of your choice is recommended. For the best level of viewing, high-speed Internet is also recommended.

Viewers can access the webcast 15 minutes before the ceremony is scheduled to begin.

The webcasts can be accessed at http://commencement.wvu.edu. Following the live streams, the information will be archived and posted to YouTube.com. The hooding ceremony for Eberly College master’s and doctoral candidates will not be streamed on the Internet live, but will be recorded and posted later.

Here is the schedule:

May 14
5:30 p.m. _ Honors Convocation, Morgantown Event Center.

May 15
8:30 a.m. _ School of Dentistry, Student Recreation Center; Speaker: Dr. Lorena Surber, president of the WVU School of Dentistry Alumni Association.

9 a.m. _ School of Medicine (MD/PhD), Creative Arts Center; Speaker: Interim Dean Dr. James Brick.

9:30 a.m. _ College of Human Resources and Education, WVU Coliseum; Speaker: former high school teacher LouAnne Johnson, portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1995 movie “Dangerous Minds.”

Noon _ School of Pharmacy, Student Recreation Center; Speaker: Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Pharmacists Association Thomas E. Menighan.

1 p.m. _ College of Law, Creative Arts Center; Speaker: WVU Law School Professor of the Year Anne Lofaso.

2 p.m. _ College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, WVU Coliseum: Speaker: WVU 1976 graduate E. J. “Jed” DiPaolo.

5 p.m. _ School of Nursing, Student Recreation Center; Speaker: Dr. Diana Mason, who serves as the Rudin Professor at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing and is director of the Hunter College Center for Health Media and Policy.

5 p.m. _ College of Creative Arts, Creative Arts Center; Speaker: former WVU first lady and Division of Music alumna Susan Hardesty.

6 p.m. _ College of Business and Economics, WVU Coliseum; Speaker: WVU 1966 and 1968 alumnus Douglas Van Scoy.

May 16
9:30 a.m. _ Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, WVU Coliseum; Speaker: Rustin M. Moore, chair of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at The Ohio State University.

10 a.m. _ Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, Creative Arts Center; Speaker: Tom Harrison, chairman and chief executive officer of Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services.

10 a.m. _ School of Medicine Professional Programs, Student Recreation Center; Speaker: Paralympic athlete Mike Schlappi.

2 p.m. _ Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, WVU Coliseum; Speaker former U.S. President William J. Clinton.

2:30 p.m. _ College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Creative Arts Center; Speaker: former WVU and NBA basketball star Jerry West will speak.

For more information on the webcasts, visit http://commencement.wvu.edu

dm/05/04/10

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