COMMENCEMENT 1990

A weekly roundup of Southland graduation ceremonies. Occidental College

Occidental College held its 103rd commencement Sunday. Degrees were conferred on 386 graduates, with 375 receiving bachelor’s and 11 receiving master’s degrees. W. Ann Reynolds (Kansas State Teachers College, 1958), former chancellor of the California State University system and newly appointed chancellor of City University of New York, delivered the keynote address. From her text:

“Even with your superb educations, your lives won’t always be smooth.... Once again those whispering voices from our educational and mentoring forbears will help to see you through. I’ve recently been through a searing time in the press. My past voices of help ranged from Woody Hayes, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going,’ to Ruth Gordon, the actress and playwright, ‘Don’t be helpless, don’t look for trouble. Stuff gets in your way, kick it under the rug. Stay well, stay with it, make it come out. Never, never, never give up.”’

Honorary degrees were awarded to Frank Press, president of the National Academy of Sciences, and to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp. Jamie Austin, a psychology major from Laguna Hills, was valedictorian.

Cal Poly Pomona

Cal Poly Pomona held its 34th commencement Saturday. Degrees were conferred on 3,039 graduates, with 2,714 receiving bachelor’s and 325 receiving master’s degrees. Assemblywoman Teresa P. Hughes (D-Los Angeles) (Hunter College, 1954) delivered the keynote address.

UCLA School of Medicine

UCLA School of Medicine held its commencement Friday. Dr. Donald Cram(Rollins College, 1941), 1987 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, delivered the keynote address to 176 graduates.

Cal State Los Angeles

Cal State Los Angeles held its 43rd commencement Saturday. Degrees were conferred on 3,667 graduates, with 2,818 receiving bachelor’s, 840 receiving master’s and one receiving a doctorate. U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.) delivered the keynote address. From his prepared text:

“In this century we have seen the world as essentially divided into East and West. But in your century we must also see North and South. One-third of this university is like me: descendants of people whose origins are in the southern hemisphere.... We have been blind to the fact that violence in Central America or poverty in Mexico or environmental disaster in Brazil affects us in profound ways. Many of us--myself included--are here because our parents had no choice but to flee.”

Jaime Escalante, Garfield High School math teacher whose accomplishments were chronicled in the movie “Stand and Deliver,” received an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Loma Linda University

Loma Linda University held its 85th commencement with three ceremonies over the weekend. Bachelor’s degrees were awarded to 337 graduates, master’s to 156, and doctor’s to 16. The Graduate School featured Roy Branson (Atlantic Union College, 1959), senior research fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, as the keynote speaker. Elder Randall Roberts (Southwestern Adventist College, 1981), chaplain at the Loma Linda University Medical Center, addressed the School of Nursing. The College of Fine Arts and Sciences, School of Business and Management, and School of Education featured Winton H. Beaven (Atlantic Union College, 1937), assistant to the president, Kettering Medical Center, as keynote speaker. Elder Roland R. Hegstad (Walla Walla College, 1949), associate director at the International Religious Liberty Assn., addressed the School of Allied Health Professions.

Looking Ahead

* Caltech will hold its 96th commencement at Beckman Mall at 10 a.m. Friday with Frank H. T. Rhodes, president of Cornell University, as keynote speaker.

* Cal State San Bernardino will hold its 24th commencement at 5:30 p.m. Saturday on the lawn between the library and gymnasium, with Arnold Garson, editor of the San Bernardino County Sun, as keynote speaker.

* UC Riverside will hold its 36th commencement at 9 a.m. for the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, School of Education and Graduate School of Management, and at 6 p.m. for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences on Saturday. Ceremonies will be on campus in front of the Tomas Rivera Library. Edward J. Blakely, professor and chairman of the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, will speak at both commencements.

* UCLA will hold its principal commencement ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Drake Stadium for the College of Letters and Sciences. Roald Sagdeev, Soviet space scientist, physicist and former director of the Institute of Space Research, U.S.S.R., will deliver the keynote address. Other commencements are as follows: Anderson Graduate School of Management, 2 p.m. Friday, Royce Hall; School of the Arts and School of Theater, Film and Television, 9 a.m. Saturday, Royce Hall; Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 10 a.m. Saturday, Schoenberg Hall; Graduate School of Education, 11 a.m. Saturday, Kerckhoff Patio; School of Engineering and Applied Science, 1 p.m. Saturday, Pauley Pavilion; School of Dentistry, 2 p.m. Saturday, Royce Hall; Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 3 p.m. Saturday, Perloff Quad; School of Public Health, 5 p.m. Saturday, Jules Stein Plaza; School of Nursing, 5 p.m. Sunday, Royce Hall; School of Social Welfare, 5 p.m. Sunday, Schoenberg Quad.

Compiled by Times Researcher Michael Meyers