2008 Commencement

December 2007 and May and Summer 2008 Graduates:

Washburn University School of Law Commencement will be Saturday, May 17, 2008, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Arena of the Petro Allied Health Center on the Washburn Campus. General directions to the Washburn campus are available at the Washburn University web site. See also directions to the law school.

Photograph: Dennis Moore.The Commencement Speaker is Congressman Dennis W. Moore. Congressman Moore was educated in Wichita public schools and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1967. He received his law degree from Washburn University School of Law in 1970. After service in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, Congressman Moore started his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Kansas. He entered private legal practice in Johnson County in 1973. In 1976, he was elected District Attorney in Johnson County and was reelected twice, serving a total of 12 years. Congressman Moore was elected to Congress in 1998 as the representative of the Third District in Kansas. He is a member of the House Committees on the Budget and Financial Services and is on a leave of absence from the House Small Business Committee during the 110th Congress. Learn more about Congressman Moore.

Details about commencement events follow.

Note on Special Seating Requirements

If you need special arrangements to accommodate an elderly or special needs guest, please e-mail the names and number of guests to Betty Fischer (elizabeth.fischer [at] washburn.edu) NO LATER THAN noon, Monday, May 12. She will arrange for special seating for guests using walkers or wheelchairs. Guests should go to the northeast corner entrance of Petro Allied Health Center, where there is an elevator which they may take down to the main floor. When guests arrive at Lee Arena, they should seek out a staff member or student usher who will have a list of accommodated guests.

Tuesday, May 13, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Adrianne Johnson, from the University Bookstore, and her staff will be at the law school on Tuesday, May 13, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. to distribute regalia. If you are out-of-town and cannot get a friend to pick up your regalia, please call Betty Fischer (670-1872) or e-mail her at elizabeth.fischer [at] washburn.edu.

Friday, May 16, 2008, 10:00 a.m.

REQUIRED PRACTICE for graduating law students at Lee Arena in Petro Allied Health Center. Meet at Lee Arena at 10:00 a.m. Please contact Betty Fischer (elizabeth.fischer [at] washburn.edu) with questions about the practice session.

Friday, May 16, 2008, 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

The Washburn University School of Law alumni Association invites you and your family to join law school alumni, faculty, and staff for a luncheon celebrating the graduating Class of 2008. The luncheon will be Friday, May 16, 2008, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., at the Heritage Hall, Kansas Expocentre off of 17th Street at Western. PLEASE RSVP to Pat Dodds (pat.dodds [at] washburn.edu 785-670-1011) by Thursday, May 1, 2008.

Wicher Photography will be at the luncheon to handout copies of the Class of 2008 photoboard to graduates.

Saturday, May 17, 2008 — Commencement Day!

Graduates should arrive at Room 120 of the law school no later than 6:15 p.m., Saturday, May 17. Note: Families may want to wait until 6:30 p.m. or a little afterward to drive to Petro Allied Health Center. The guests attending the 4:30 p.m. University Commencement program will need time to leave the parking area.

Note: In case of inclement weather, an e-mail will be sent to law-school-current-graduates@lists.washburn.edu and signs will be posted on the law school outside doors by 3 p.m., Saturday, May 17. If that is the case, we will meet in Room 220 in Petro Allied Health Center.

6:15 p.m.
Students robe in Room 120 of the law school.
In case of bad weather, students will robe in Room 220 of Petro Allied Health Center.

A cadet from the Washburn University Police Department will lock the room where robing takes place (Room 120 at the law school OR Room 220 in Petro) and remain there with your valuables from the time you leave for the procession until 10 p.m. However, a better solution would be to have a family member take the items, as you may not return to the room until after 10 p.m.

Faculty will robe in Room 100 of the law school.
In case of inclement weather, faculty and the platform party will robe in Room 221 of Petro Allied Health Center. Please do not leave any valuables in the robing room.

Assigned faculty and staff will assist with robing and other directions for the ceremony.

6:35 - 7:00 p.m.
Students should come up the back stairway (between Room 119 and Law Journal office) and line up for procession in second floor faculty hallway. Marshals will assist.

The procession will leave the law school at 7:05 p.m.

The Kansas City St. Andrew Pipes & Drums Corps will lead the procession. The procession from the law school will include Grand Marshal, Professor Myrl Duncan, faculty, graduates, deans and Commencement speaker, Congressman Dennis W. Moore. The platform party, consisting of Board of Regents members and President Jerry Farley, will join the procession at the entrance to Lee Arena.

Families are welcome to stand as "honor guard" along the procession route and take photos/videos. The procession begins by exiting the north side of the law school, heads east to the northeast corner of Memorial Union, turns south to the northwest corner of Memorial Union, turns east and goes past the south side of Morgan Hall and the north side of Carnegie Hall, and heads southeast and south to the southeast entrance to Petro Allied Health Center. The procession will enter the northeast entrance of Lee Arena.

The procession will halt at the first floor northeast entrance to Lee Arena for 5 to 10 minutes, at approximately 7:20 p.m., to allow guests watching the procession to be seated.

Map: Processional route from law school to Petro Allied Health Center/Lee Arena.

7:30 p.m. (promptly)
Commencement begins with procession into Lee Arena, Petro Allied Health Center.

Note: Commencement will be videotaped and individual photos will be taken of each graduate as hooding occurs and congratulations are extended by President Farley and Dean Romig. Copies of the videotape can be ordered online using Washburn University's Commencement Videotape Order Form. Proofs of photos will be sent to each graduate via e-mail from Chappell GraduationImages.

Order of Exercises

9:00 p.m.
Approximate end of ceremony.

9:00 to 11:00 p.m.
A Champagne Reception, hosted by Washburn University School of Law, will follow Commencement at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center. RSVP to Elizabeth Fischer (elizabeth.fischer [at] washburn.edu) with the number of your guests no later than Monday, May 12, 2008.

Note: Regalia should be turned in to the Bookstore staff in the Board Room upstairs at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center. Diplomas may be picked up in the Baker Room, which is across from the Board Room, after regalia has been returned. Staff will be available until 10 p.m. to assist you.

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