Class of 450 to be honored at December Commencement Exercises (12/16)

Some 450 fall graduation candidates and summer graduates plan to participate in Purdue University Calumet's 15th annual December Commencement Exercises at 6 p.m., Tuesday (12/16) at the Radisson Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville.

The graduating class is comprised of 651 individuals—126 summer graduates and 525 fall candidates whose diploma status is subject to satisfactory completion of fall semester course work this week.

Fall candidates are on pace to claim 54 associate degrees, 373 baccalaureate degrees and 98 master’s degrees. Summer graduates earned 10 associate degrees, 57 baccalaureate degrees and 59 master’s degrees.

Purdue Calumet Chancellor Howard Cohen and Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Technology Jose Pena, the university’s 2007-08 Outstanding Teaching Award recipient, will address the degree candidates/graduates, their families and friends. Distinguished undergraduate degree candidates will be recognized as well.

Selected to offer the traditional "response" on behalf of the December Class of 2008 is Purdue Alumni Association-Calumet Outstanding Student Award recipient Sarah Parrish, a Hammond native and Cedar Lake resident. The 25-year-old biotechnology major is a recognized student researcher and aspiring university professor/researcher. She has received three National Science Foundation-sponsored Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Program (LSAMP) Fellowships relating to cytogenetics research and two merit scholarships. She also has served as president of the honors program, has been a mentor in the Freshman Experience for Biology Majors course and has worked as a Supplemental Instructor in chemistry.

This December’s class increases to more than 41,000 the number of degrees granted at Purdue Calumet.

News Release Date: December 12, 2008