May 17, 2000
RELEASE ON RECEIPT

Five Lorain County Residents to Receive Degrees from Oberlin College

OBERLIN, OHIO--Five Lorain County residents are among the 670 students expected to graduate from Oberlin College at its 167th commencement.

Commencement ceremonies will take place Monday, May 29, at 9:30 a.m. on Tappan Square. Oscar Arias Sánchez, former president of Costa Rica and winner of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.

In addition to Arias, others receiving honorary degrees are:

• Louis Lane, musician and conductor, who will receive an honorary doctor of music degree;
• Bruce Sherman McEwen '59, neuroscientist and professor at the Rockefeller University, who will receive an honorary doctor of science degree;
• Eleanor Gould Packard, '38, associate editor of The New Yorker, who will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree; and
• Washington, D.C. attorney and Oberlin College trustee William R. Perlik '48, who served as chair of Oberlin's board from 1993 to 1999. He will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Dr. Roy Church, president of Lorain County Community College, will receive the college's annual award for distinguished service to the community. He is being recognized for his efforts to increase access to higher education.

Danforth Professor of History Geoffrey Blodgett '53 will receive the College's Alumni Medal, which is awarded in recognition of outstanding and sustained service to Oberlin College and its extended community.

Media Contact: Marci Janas 5/17/00 #95 mj