Wichita State University to hold 2016 fall commencement ceremony Dec. 11
All graduates will walk across the stage and be individually recognized. Doctoral candidates will be hooded at this ceremony.
Wichita State's fall commencement ceremony in Koch Arena will be available via webcast. To view the ceremony, go to www.wichita.edu/commencement and click on "Live Commencement Streaming." The site will go live at about 2:25 p.m. Dec. 11.
Operatic mezzo-soprano and actress Karla Burns will receive an honorary doctorate at this year's ceremony. She has had a life full of accomplishments that span the globe. In addition, Burns was inducted into the WSU Fine Arts Hall of Fame this year and received the WSU Alumni Association Award in 1988.
Honorary degrees can be conferred only upon persons of notable intellectual, scholarly, professional or creative achievement or service to humanity, and must be approved by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Samuel Ramey, distinguished professor of opera at WSU, will receive the President's Medal. For almost three decades, Ramey reigned as one of the music world's foremost interpreters of bass and bass-baritone operatic and concert repertoire.
The President's Medal is awarded annually to a person who is selected for humility, for interest in others and especially for extraordinary and exemplary leadership through integrity, service to humanity and expertise in his or her field.