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Graduation: May 18, 2013

 

MANDATORY REHEARSAL:

Graduates 2009Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 11:00aM

Location: Room 804, Watkins 

Graduates must attend the rehearsal. Graduates will rehearse the graduation process and receive final instructions - and cap and gown. A reception hosted by Watkins alumni follows the rehearsal. 

 

Commencement Ceremony

Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 2:00pm

LOCATION:  Downtown Presbyterian Church, 154 5th Ave N Nashville, Tennessee.

Graduating students must arrive at the church at 12:30 p.m. Report to the lower level area of the church at the side entrance (fifth avenue). Graduates will take a group photo on the front church steps. Graduates will receive cords for any academic honors as they line-up for the procession. 

LINE OF MARCH: Begins promptly at 1:30pm! Students will be lined up in alphabetical order in accordance with their degree program.

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER:    David Macaulay, illustrator and author

Born on December 2, 1946, David Macaulay was eleven when his family moved from England to the United States. Not surprisingly, he continued to grow up and in 1969 

received his bachelor of architecture degree from Rhode Island School of Design after spending his fifth year in Rome on the European Honors Program.  
 
In January 1973, after a couple of years of dabbling and a bit of luck, Macaulay was off to France to work on the first of his twenty-five books, Cathedral. He then constructed a colonial Roman town (City, 1974), erected monuments to the Pharaohs (Pyramid, 1975), dissected the maze of subterranean systems below and essential to every major city (Underground, 1976), built a medieval fortress (Castle, 1977) and dismantled the Empire State Building (Unbuilding, 1980).
 
Macaulay is probably best known for a very thick book called The Way Things Work (1988). Co-authored by Neil Ardley, this exhaustively researched compendium presents the hows and whys of much of the technology we take for granted. It was followed by Black and White (1990), a considerably slimmer volume and winner of the 1991 Caldecott Medal. 1997 saw the publication of a pigeon lead tour of the Eternal City called Rome Antics, and in the fall of 1998, The New Way Things Work, a revised edition of the ’88 book lumbered onto the stands. Building Big, the companion book to a five part PBS television series about major engineering feats around the world was published in 2000 and two years later Rome and pigeons once again took center stage for a book called Angelo. 
 
In response to the events of September 11, Mosque was published in 2003 and that same year work began on a book about the workings of the human body. The Way We Work was published in 2008. For his most recent book, Built to Last, Macaulay slipped into reverse and re-illustrated both Cathedral and Castle, only this time in color. In 2009, David Macaulay Studio, an imprint of Roaring Brook Publishers, was founded to produce books that 'explain' things. Four short nonfiction books for reluctant readers are the first publications to emerge from this new enterprise.
 
In 2006, Macaulay was named a MacArthur fellow and turned sixty, though the two are not related.

Macaulay will be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts.

Check out his TED Talk!

Reception

Graduates and their guests are encouraged to stay and enjoy refreshments, which will be served in the Fellowship Hall (lower level of church) immediately following the close of graduation ceremonies.

 

CHECK LIST FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS

  • Clear all holds from the Library and Business Office (see Registrar if you are not sure)
  • Financial Aid Loan Exit Counseling Session (see below)
  • Mandatory Graduation Rehearsal on campus (date tbd)
  • Meet promptly at Downtown Presbyterian Church Saturday, May 18, 2013, 12:30 p.m. with your cap and gown!


Graduate Exit Interview:  Graduates are required to fill out the Graduate Exit Interview online or meet with Patrick DeGuira, Career Services Coordinator prior to graduation.

Financial Aid Loan Exit Counseling Session:  If you have borrowed form the Federal Student Loan Program at any time during your enrollment at Watkins, you are required to complete a Loan Exit Counseling Session.  Click (here) for more information.

Caps and Gowns:  Graduates have been fitted for caps and gowns.  Caps and gowns have been distributed at Senior Meetings. If you have not picked up your cap and gown, please see the Registrar. Please remember that the caps and gowns are yours to keep and decoration of your mortarboard is strongly encouraged!

Announcemens/Memorabilia: You are not required to purchase graduation announcements and Watkins does not collect nor place this order for you.  If desired, you may visit the Balfour website to order online graduation announcements and other graduation products mailed direct to your home - class rings are now available! http://products.balfour.com/College/CollegeHome.aspx?CollegeId=TN153409


KenGraduation Ceremony & Reception: The ceremony is at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 18, 2013 at The Downtown Presbyterian Church located at 154 5th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219.  The church is one of Nashville’s treasured historic buildings and provides an elegant setting for the event. Please visit www.dpchurch.com for a map and directions. A reception will be held immediately following the ceremony in the church’s Fellowship Hall (lower level of church). You are welcome to invite family and friends to share in this memorable experience. All graduates are to arrive at the church by 12:30 p.m. to dress, have a class photo taken and line up for the ceremony.  Line up will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m.  Parking is not available at the church; however, there are several parking garages/lots in the immediate vicinity, so please arrive early.  

Academic Honors: Three academic distinctions are awarded to graduating students. This honor is recognized at graduation and apppears on the student's official transcript. Academic honors can be noted on resume as an academic achievement.

  • Summa Cum Laude is awarded to candidates whose cumulative GPA is 3.90 or higher.
  • Magna Cum Laude is awarded to candidates whose cumulative GPA is 3.70-3.89.
  • Cum Laude is awarded to candidates whose cumulative GPA is 3.50-3.69.

 It is the responsibility of each student to become familiar with the requirements for his or her major or program of studies as specified in the catalog under which the student was admitted and to be sure that all such requirements are met. Failure to be aware of a requirement does not excuse a student from completing it. Graduating seniors should check their respective catalog for graduation requirement information.