Graduates to receive their sheepskins May 11

Actor/comedian Bill Cosby will deliver this year’s
commencement address. Cosby, who is well-known for his commitment
to education, will be presented with the first Rice University
Award for Distinguished Service to Education, which was
created in his honor and which, in years to come, will be
presented to others who have made similar contributions
to education.

Commencement weekend will include a variety of activities,
including the Class of 2002 convocation, a gathering sponsored
by the Association of Rice Alumni (ARA) to welcome the graduates
to the ARA; the Shepherd School of Music Presidential Concert;
and a presidential reception. Those events will start at
7:45 p.m. Friday, May 10, in the Shepherd School’s
Alice Pratt Brown Hall and will be followed by a 10:15 p.m.
fireworks display in the parking lot of Rice Stadium.

Other weekend events include the Student Art Exhibit, on
display Friday, May 10, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday,
May 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rice University Art
Gallery in Sewall Hall.
The Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management investiture
ceremony and reception will be held Friday, May 10, from
1 to 5 p.m. at Alice Pratt Brown Hall.

Students will be honored for their achievements at Rice
at several events, including the Phi Beta Kappa initiation,
which also will feature the presentation of the Phi Beta
Kappa Teaching Prize May 10 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. A banquet
for student award recipients will be held May 10 from 5:15
to 7:30 p.m. at the Cohen House. Student athletes also will
be honored at the “R” Association breakfast May
11 at 6 a.m.

Those planning to attend commencement should note that entrances
1 and 2 to the university will be closed May 11. Parking
will be available in the Stadium Lot, accessible through
Entrance 8 (University Boulevard at Stockton Drive), or
in the North Lot at Entrance 13 (off Rice Boulevard).

Those unable to attend commencement can view it over the
Internet via RealVideo and multicast. Visit Rice’s
RTV page at <www.rice.edu/rtv>
for more information.

In the event of severe inclement weather, the ceremony will
be held in Autry Court.