W&L to Celebrate 222nd Commencement on June 4
Washington and Lee University will celebrate its 222nd undergraduate commencement on Thursday, June 4, on its historic Front Lawn in front of Lee Chapel.
The commencement ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. with remarks by President Kenneth P. Ruscio and graduating senior Richard S. Cleary Jr., immediate past president of the Executive Committee of the student body. The event will be streamed live on the University’s Web site at http://go.wlu.edu/commencementlive/.
Graduation-related events, award ceremonies and receptions will begin on June 3, with a baccalaureate service led by William C. “Burr” Datz, director of leadership development and coordinator of religious life. The Rev. Jennifer Strawbridge, associate rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Va.,, and a 2001 graduate of W&L, will give the keynote address.
Among this year’s outstanding graduates are students receiving special honors and highly competitive scholarships:
- Two graduates were selected by W&L’s Celebrating Student Success Initiative as the John W. Elrod Unsung Generals of the Year. Hunter Coleman Branstetter, an English major from Nashville, Tenn., was honored for his contributions to the Honor Advocate Program. Jenna Elise Walls, a biology major from Zionsville, Ind., was honored for her contributions to Nabors Service League and the men’s basketball program.
- Four graduates won Fulbright Fellowships to study and work abroad for a year, beginning this summer. Katherine Leah Bagley, a German and politics major from Midlothain, Va., will teach in Germany. Katherine Michelle Bastian, a politics and German major from North Wales, Pa., will conduct research in Germany. Paul Sinton Stack, an English and French major from Baltimore, Md., will teach English in the Lorraine region of France. Elizabeth Gates Webb, a biochemistry major from Middleburg, Va., will conduct research at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
- Kelly Jeanne Bundy, a French and politics major from Moseley, Va., has been awarded a Teaching Assistantship in English through the French government.
- Two graduates were awarded Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships for study abroad next year. Joseph Hansen Babington, an English and Spanish major from Mobile, Ala., will travel to Madrid, Spain. Michael Andrew Thompson, a geology major with a concentration in environmental studies from La Jolla, Calif., will travel to Santiago, Chile.
- Eduardo Ignacio Rodriguez, a business administration major with a concentration in poverty and human capability studies, has been awarded a grant from the Kathryn Wasserman Davis 100 Projects for Peace program to establish a language laboratory in his home town of Pehuajo, Argentina.
- Three graduates received National Collegiate Athletic Association Postgraduate Scholarships. They are Paul Davidson Crook, a chemistry major from Nashville, Tenn., Anne Van Devender, a computer science major with a concentration in women’s and gender studies from Jackson, Miss., and Elizabeth Webb.
