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Today's college commencements

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 22, 2010 06:05 PM

By Globe Staff

It's graduation season in Massachusetts, when every weekend comes alive with pomp and circumstance, proud parents, and occasional traffic jams. Here is a list of today's undergraduate commencements as well as ceremonies at community colleges:

Wheaton College
10 a.m. on the Dimple
Speaker: Ann Curry, NBC "Today" anchor
Expected graduates: 405
Degrees: Bachelor of Arts
Honorary degrees: Curry; Diana Davis Spencer, long-time Wheaton trustee and current trustee emerita; Dr. Gillian Shepherd, allergist

Quincy College
1 p.m. at the Quincy Marriott
Speaker: Carmen Mariano, president of Archbishop Williams High School
Expected graduates: about 250
Degrees: Associate in Science, Associate in Arts, Certificate

Fitchburg State College
10 a.m. on the quad
Speaker: Dr. Patrice K. Nicholas (’77), director of Global Health and Academic Partnerships at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Expected graduates: approximately 450
Degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science
Honorary degree: Nicholas

Hampshire College
11 a.m. at the Harold F. Johnson Library Lawn
Speaker: Peter Cole, poet and translator
Expected graduates: 320
Degrees: Bachelor of Arts

Holyoke Community College
10 a.m. on the O'Connell Soccer Field
Speakers: Student orators Alexander N. Pangborn ('10), Tyrra L. Minto ('10), and Janice M. Daly ('10)
Expected graduates: approximately 1,100
Degrees: Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, certificates

Northern Essex Community College
11 a.m., at the Haverhill Campus quadrangle
Speaker: Dan Lyons (’83), technology columnist for Newsweek
Student speaker: Nigel Mainville of Amesbury, international relations
Expected graduates: 1,069
Degrees: Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, certificates

Salem State College - Undergraduate School of Arts & Sciences
10 a.m. at the O’Keefe Center
Speaker: Michael S. Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and 1988 U.S. presidential candidate
Expected graduates: 576 Degrees
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Liberal Studies
Honorary Degrees: Carole E. Simpson, journalist and ABC news anchor and senior correspondent; Dr. Mallika Marshall (Simpson’s daughter), physician and former CBS News and WBZ medical anchor and correspondent

Salem State College - Undergraduate Bertolon School of Business and Schools of Human Services
3 p.m. at the O’Keefe Center
Speaker: Lynn Nicholas, president and CEO of Massachusetts Hospital Association U.S. presidential candidate
Expected graduates: 838 Degrees
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Work
Honorary Degrees: James and Karen Ansara, philanthropists

Westfield State College
10:30 a.m. at Westfield State College Green on Western Avenue
Speaker: Byron Pitts, author and CBS News correspondent
Expected graduates: 1,200 undergraduates, 180 graduates
Degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Education, Bachelor of Social Work, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Education, Master of Public Administration, Certificate of Advanced Graduate Program
Honorary Degrees: Pitts; Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Sheriff Michael Ashe Jr., sheriff of Hampden County; Therese Murray, president of Massachusetts Senate; Robert A. Johnson, president and CEO of Special Olympics Massachusetts; Alan Chartock, president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio