COMMENCEMENT 1991 : <i> A weekly roundup of Southland graduation ceremonies</i>

Cal State Northridge

* Cal State Northridge held its remaining commencement ceremonies last Tuesday and Wednesday. Nikolas Patsaouras (CSUN, 1967), president of the Los Angeles Rapid Transit District, spoke to 599 graduating students at the School of Engineering and Computer Science last Tuesday. The School of the Arts conferred degrees on 413 graduates at its first commencement Tuesday. Peter Sellars (Harvard, 1980), stage director and organizer of the 1990 L.A. Arts Festival, delivered the keynote address. Sellars also received adjunct faculty status. From his prepared text:

“My main advice is find something that needs doing, and do it. You will be given a hundred reasons why it can’t be done. You will be given no support. But if you feel in your heart that it must be done, then you will do it. And that’s our gift , that we are not economists, we don’t forecast probabilities of things based on how it looks. Because as artists, we know that the world of appearences is a deception.”

The School of Humanities conferred degrees on 788 students last Tuesday. Frank Del Olmo (CSUN, 1970), Times deputy editor of the editorial pages, delivered the keynote address.

The School of Business Administration and Economics featured Daniel S. Pena (CSUN, 1971), chairman and chief executive officer of Great Western Resources Inc., as its keynote speaker Wednesday. Degrees were conferred on 1,326 students. The School of Communication, Health and Human Services conferred degrees on 1,517 graduates Wednesday.

Cal State Long Beach

* Cal State Long Beach conferred degrees on 7,337 graduates over a three-day period beginning last Wednesday. Commencement speakers included James P. Miscoll (Marquette University), vice chairman and executive officer of Southern California Bank of America, at the School of Business Administration on Thursday; Enid Beaumont (UCLA, 1951), director of the Academy for State and Local Government in Washington, at the Graduate Center for Public Policy on Thursday; Ruth Weisberg (University of Michigan, 1963), president of the College Art Assn. at the School of Fine Arts on Friday, and Elizabeth Ambos (Smith College, 1977), a faculty member, at the School of Natural Sciences on Friday.

Biola University

* Biola University conferred degrees on 400 graduates Saturday. Gordon E. Kirk, senior pastor of Rolling Hills Covenant Church, delivered the keynote address. An honorary degree was awarded to Kitty Anna Griffiths, author of children’s books, and to John Y. Kim, pastor of the Korean Community Church in Cypress.

West Coast University

* West Coast University conferred degrees on 509 graduates Saturday. Peter S. Watson (University of Auckland, New Zealand, 1976), director of Asian affairs for the National Security Council, delivered the keynote address. An honorary degree was awarded to Watson.

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science

* Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science honored 143 graduates at its seventh commencement Sunday. Degrees conferred included 81 medical residency completion certificates, 19 doctor of medicine, 25 bachelor’s of science, seven associate of arts, and seven nurse midwife certificates. Attorney Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (UCLA, 1953), former Los Angeles County supervisor, delivered the keynote address. The President’s Medal was awarded to former U.S. Rep. Augustus F. Hawkins (D-Calif.).

Looking Ahead

* UCLA School of Medicine will hold its 37th commencement ceremonies at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Royce Hall. Dr. Joel Yager, professor of psychiatry and bio-behavioral sciences at UCLA, will deliver the commencement address. Ceremonies are not open to the public.

* Loyola Law School will hold its 70th commencement ceremonies at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Westchester campus. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen S. Trott will deliver the keynote address.

* Cal Poly Pomona will hold its 52nd commencement at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Kellogg Field on campus. Motion picture and television actor Raymond Burr will be the keynote speaker.

* Occidental College commencement exercises will begin at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the Remsen Bird Hillside Theater. New York Times columnist Edward B. Fiske will address the graduating students.