About 5,000 visitors will converge on Oberlin this weekend for class reunions and graduation. Nearly 600 students are expected to receive degrees at the commencement ceremony beginning at 9:30 am Monday on Tappan Square. The commencement address will be given by Spelman College president Johnnetta Betsch Cole '57.
Cole has published works on anthropology, African-American studies and women's studies; her latest book is Conversations: Straight Talk With America's Sister President (Doubleday, 1993). Professor of sociology Albert McQueen will present her for the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.
Two other honorary degrees will be conferred at the ceremony. Robert Shaw, music director emeritus and conductor laureate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, will receive the honorary Doctor of Music degree, and Peter T. Flawn '46, geologist and emeritus president of the University of Texas at Austin, will receive the honorary Doctor of Science degree. They will be presented by associate professor of choral conducting Edward Maclary and professor of geology William Skinner, respectively. Professor of politics Ronald Kahn will present Oberlin resident Shirley R. Johnson for the college's annual award for distinguished service to the community, which recognizes her work in education and civil liberties. (Observer 2 February, 30 March 1995.)
Among the graduates will be two children of college employees: mathematics major Paul Joseph Cunningham, whose father Daniel Cunningham is physical plant area manager, and politics and African-American studies major Corrinne Nowili Millette, whose father is professor of African-American studies James Millette.
Weekend activities include symposia, campus tours, concerts, recitals, theatrical performances and tours of Oberlin perennial gardens and historic homes. A complete schedule and ticket information will be available tomorrow at the commencement reunion center (x8695), which opens at 10 am in the conservatory lounge.
