UNL creates new tradition with 2-day commencement Dec. 19-20

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will create a new tradition this month when it institutes a two-day commencement celebration Dec. 19-20.

Because of increased enrollment and continuing student participation in commencement, exercises the Bob Devaney Sports Center no longer has the capacity to hold one commencement exercise accommodating all students. As a result, UNL will conduct two commencement ceremonies three times a year in December, May and August.

Graduate commencement exercises, including doctoral hooding, will begin at 3 p.m. Dec. 19 for approximately 300 students earning doctoral and master's degrees, and undergraduate exercises for approximately 1,300 students will begin at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 20, both in the Devaney Center. Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside at both events. John E. Anderson, associate dean of the College of Business Administration and Baird family professor of economics at UNL, will address the graduate exercises. U.S. Sen.-elect Mike Johanns will deliver the address at the undergraduate ceremony.

Anderson has advised public policymakers on many levels. He was senior economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers in 2005-06 with duties related to public finance policy issues such as tax reform, Social Security and other federal revenue and spending programs. Anderson has extensive international expertise in the re-development of former Communist countries, having acted as economic adviser to the parliament of Moldova and as economics educational adviser in Russia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. The author of a best-selling economics textbook, "Public Finance," he has been commissioned by state governments to study the effects of property tax rates, economic development incentives and tax increment financing. Anderson earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics at Western Michigan University and his doctorate in economics at Claremont Graduate University in California. He joined the UNL faculty in 1991.

Johanns was elected U.S. Senator for Nebraska in November to fill the seat previously occupied by the retiring Chuck Hagel. Johanns served as the 28th secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from January 2005 to September 2007, working to expand foreign market access for U.S. producers, promoting the growth of the renewable fuels industry and advancing cooperative conservation. Additionally, Johanns developed an in-depth farm bill proposal, which became the foundation for improvements and reforms adopted in the final 2008 farm bill. Previously, he was Nebraska's 38th governor (1999-2005). As governor, he promoted an agenda of tax relief, less government, building the economy, protecting families and ensuring the health, safety, and success of Nebraska's children.

Johanns is a graduate of St. Mary's University in Winona, Minn. He earned a law degree from Creighton University and practiced law in O'Neill and Lincoln. He served on the Lancaster County Board from 1983 to 1987, and on the Lincoln City Council from 1989 to 1991. He was elected mayor of Lincoln in 1991. Johanns was reelected in 1995 without opposition, and successfully ran for governor in 1998 and was reelected in 2002.

For both commencement exercises, handicap accessible shuttle buses will be available for easy access to the Devaney Center entrance and handicap permit parking will be available on the north side of the building.

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

A drop-off area for graduates and mobility-restricted guests will be available on the south side of the Devaney Center. Closed captioning 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 (Dec. 20 only, seats will also be available in Section B-11). Guests in wheelchairs will be seated on the northeast corner of the arena floor.

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