27th Street Entrance Recommended for May 7 UNL Commencement

The ongoing major construction of the Antelope Valley Project will severely limit access from the west and south to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for University of Nebraska-Lincoln commencement exercises on May 7.

UNL officials urge those planning to attend the 9:30 a.m. ceremonies to use the 27th Street entrance to State Fair Park and park in the paved lots east of the Devaney Center. Handicap accessible shuttle buses will be available for easy access to the Devaney Center entrance. Handicap permit parking will be available on the north side of the Devaney Center.

Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside at the ceremonies, and the university will award degrees to approximately 2,100 individuals. An honorary doctor of humane letters degree will be awarded to Douglas Bereuter, president of the Asia Foundation and former 26-year U.S. representative from Nebraska. Bereuter will also deliver the commencement address.

The Nebraska Alumni Association will recognize Don Blank (D.D.S., 1960) of McCook and Lynne Morian Grasz (B.S., 1966) of New York City with Distinguished Service awards. The awards honor individuals with exemplary records of service to the Alumni Association and the university.

The University of Nebraska College of Law will have a separate graduation ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. May 7 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St. Dean Steven Willborn will preside at the ceremony. The speaker will be veteran civil rights attorney Fred Gray of Tuskegee, Ala. Gray first gained national attention at age 24, when he represented Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus, the action that initiated the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gray was also Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s first civil rights lawyer.

Recipients of doctoral degrees will be honored in a doctoral hooding ceremony beginning at 3:30 p.m. May 6 at Kimball Recital Hall. Approximately 82 doctoral candidates are expected to participate. They will receive their diplomas at the May 7 commencement exercises.

All ceremonies are free and open to the public, and tickets are not required. The May 7 commencement exercises will be Web-streamed live from the Devaney Center through a link at the UNL Web site (www.unl.edu).

A graduate of the University of Nebraska (B.A. in community and regional planning, 1961) and Harvard University (master of city planning, 1966, and master of public administration, 1973), Bereuter developed a distinguished career as a public servant. Following service in the U.S. Army, he held several state-level administrative positions prior to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. Re-elected as Nebraska's 1st Congressional District representative in the next 12 elections, he represented Nebraska in Congress longer than any other citizen.

During his time in Congress, Bereuter was especially active in promoting American exports, including agricultural and food exports. He authored significant trade, water, development, agriculture, health, financial, institutions, housing, Native American and international hunger and child welfare legislation.

He served on the UNL College of Architecture's professional advisory committee, and as a UNL Army ROTC graduate, he has frequently consulted with ROTC faculty and cadets. He became president of the San Francisco-based Asia Foundation last year.

The Distinguished Service Award honors individuals with exemplary records of service to the Nebraska Alumni Association and the university. Blank is a dentist in McCook and a long-time public servant, who recently completed his third term on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, including four years as chair. Grasz is president and CEO of Grasz Communications in New York City. She is a former president of the New York City chapter of American Women in Radio and TV, and a member of the National Advertising Board and the National Broadcasting Society.

A drop-off area for graduates and mobility-restricted guests will be available on the south side of the Devaney Center on May 7. Sign-language interpreters for hearing-impaired individuals will be provided through the HuskerVision screens. Reserved seats for guests who are ambulatory restricted will be available next to the stage on the arena floor, as well as in Section B-11. Guests in wheelchairs will be seated on the northeast corner of the arena floor. Golf carts will be at the ramps on the exterior north and south sides of the Devaney Center to assist disabled guests entering and leaving the building.

Because of security concerns, parcels, handbags and camera bags will be subject to search.

Color JPEG images of Doug Bereuter, Don Blank, Lynne Morian Grasz and Fred Gray are available at the links below. The image of Gray is from www.fredgray.net.

CONTACT: Annette Wetzel, University Communications, (402) 472-8514