As Fresno State embarks on its second century with 4,840 Fresno State students eligible for degrees, a festive 101st Commencement ceremony will begin with the processional at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at the Save Mart Center. Doors open at 8 a.m.

New this year is a photo contest sponsored by the California State University system. Graduates are invited to tweet a picture to @calstate or share it at www.facebook.com/calstate.  All pictures will be added to a special Facebook album in celebration of commencement and the picture with the most “likes” will be featured on the Facebook and CSU website.

Commencement activities begin Friday, May 18, with 18 college and school convocations in addition to department and program celebrations throughout the day at multiple locations.  View the commencement Schedule here.

Another new feature this year is that hooding ceremonies for students earning graduate degrees will be included in the students’ respective college, school and department convocation celebrations on Friday. The traditional all-university hooding ceremony the night before Commencement will not held.

As a result, the Graduate’s Medalist will be announced Saturday during Commencement along with the President’s Medalist by President John D. Welty. They are the university’s top graduate and undergraduate students selected from among 18 Dean’s Medalists representing each college and school and the Student Affairs Division and Athletics. The announcement will be posted on the university’s special Commencement web page at www.fresnostatenews.com/commencement  that will be activated Thursday with stories and photos.

Live streaming – with captioning – also will be available online Saturday for the morning University Commencement and for the 1 p.m. International Graduation Celebration in the Music Building Concert Hall where 135 graduating international students will be recognized. The broadcasts will be available on the Fresno State You Tube page next week.

Commencement events are held at various locations on campus and some of the smaller venues require tickets due to limited seating. The Commencement schedule contains ticketing and contact information for each event

On Saturday, seven events are scheduled beginning with the University Commencement and ending at 6 p.m. with the Latino Commencement Celebration, both at the Save Mart Center.

Selena Farnesi, president of the Associated Students, Inc., will welcome students and their families and guests to the 101st Commencement, where 29 candidates for doctoral degrees will be individually introduced: 19 from the independent Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership and 10 in the Joint Doctorate in Physical Therapy program.

This marks the 20th year Fresno State is awarding doctoral degrees.

Eleven individuals will receive the Education Specialist Degree, approved in 2008 for the continuing education of school psychologists working in grades K-12.

The Class of 2012 includes 3,780 students who completed their baccalaureate studies and 1,018 students who have earned master’s degrees. The number of bachelor’s degrees is down slightly but master’s degrees are up.

Twenty-two baccalaureate students achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs and 150 earned summa cum laude (with highest praise) distinction for a GPA of 3.9-4.0. Eighteen students are graduating with special majors and 57 Smittcamp Family Honors College President’s Scholars are graduating with university honors.

A Master of Arts degree in International Relations will be conferred posthumously to Mr. Michael Bodily.

The Fresno State Air Force ROTC will present colors. Shannon Alexis Mills will sing the National Anthem and Joel Allee will close the ceremony by leading the new alumni in singing the Alma Mater. Both soloists are graduating music majors. The flags of 36 countries represented by Fresno State’s graduating international students will adorn the Save Mart Center stage.

After the degree conferral, Clyde Ford, the president-elect of the Fresno State Alumni Association,   welcomes the Class of 2012 grads as official alumni.

To accommodate those students who have not had photographs taken, appointments are available May 16 and 17 for Commencement portraits at the Smittcamp Alumni House Jensen Library.

The Fresno State Alumni Association has arranged for flowers to be sold at the University Commencement ceremony. Prices range from $10-$30.

Cary Edmondson/University Communications

Parking will be free in the Save Mart Center lots for all commencement events on campus. Guests are encouraged to arrive early (see specific information below). For the University Commencement, students begin lining up at 8 a.m. at the loading dock on the east side of the arena. The procession starts at 8:30 a.m.

Events are organized by the University Commencement Planning Committee, coordinated by the Division of Student Affairs under the guidance of Commencement coordinator Gary Nelson in the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development.

For more information, call 559.278.2741 or see updates online at:

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