1850 to graduate at commencment, part 2
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(By Irene C. Kuo)
Approximately 1850 seniors and graduate students will receive an estimated 2000 degrees at MIT's 123rd commencement exercises in Killian Court today.
Former US Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-MA), the recently-appointed chairman of the state Board of Regents of Higher Education and a partner in the Boston law firm of Foley Hoag and Eliot, will deliver the commencement address to the graduates and their relatives and guests.
As chairman of the board, which sets the policy governing the 180,000 students enrolled in Massachusetts' 29 colleges and universities, Tsongas has stressed that education alone will check the country's descent into "second-class economic status."
The commencement ceremony will begin at 10 am, with the academic procession from 77 Massachusetts Avenue to Killian Court via Memorial Drive beginning at 9:45 am. Chief Marshal Emily V. Wade '45, president of the MIT Alumni Association, will lead, followed by Tsongas; MIT Corporation Chairman David S. Saxon '41, who will open the graduation exercises; President Paul E. Gray '54; Honorary Corporation Chairman Howard W. Johnson; Faculty Chairman Bernard J. Frieden PhD '57; Cambridge Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci; and Rev. Scott Paradise, religious counselor at MIT.
Provost John M. Deutch '61 will be marshal of the Academic Principals, composed of the deans of MIT's five schools and Dean for Undergraduate Education Margaret L. A. MacVicar '65; Dean of the Graduate School Frank E. Perkins '55; Charles D. Hollister, acting dean of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and Associate Provost and Vice President for Research Kenneth A. Smith '58, representing the Whitaker College of Health Sciences, Technology, and Management.
Richard de Neufville '60, professor in the School of Engineering, will be the marshal of the Faculty Division. Robert L. Mitchell '47, corporate director and retired vice chairman of the Celanese Corporation, will lead the Corporate Division; Dean for Student Affairs Shirley M. McBay will lead the Graduate Division. Student marshals will be Class of 1989 President Carissa G. Climaco, Class of 1989 Secretary Alison R. Miyamoto, and Graduate Student Council President Scott Y. Peng.
Paradise will deliver the invocation after the opening of the graduation exercises. Following Tsongas's address, Peng will give a salute to the graduate student body, Climaco will present Gray with the Class of 1989 gift (a scholarship fund), and Gray will deliver the charge to the graduates.
Fewer papers allowed
This year the only piece of literature that will be distributed in Killian Court is the commencement booklet. The Commencement Committee has prohibited distribution of all other pieces of literature, including The Tech, in the court to avoid a possible litter problem.
Mary L. Morrissey, executive officer for commencement, explained that so many groups were planning to distribute that it would have been unfair to choose among them.
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