TWU Schedules Spring Commencement

4/25/03

DENTON — Texas Woman’s University graduates will receive their degrees in commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 10 on the Denton campus. An honorary doctorate will be presented to Dr. Marie M. Clay, founder of the Reading Recovery early literacy intervention program.

Students and family members who have tickets are invited to attend. The ceremonies, which include graduates from the Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses, are scheduled at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. in the Kitty Magee Arena in Pioneer Hall, located on Bell Avenue.

TWU Chancellor Dr. Ann Stuart will preside at each ceremony, which includes an academic procession, conferring of degrees and a commencement address.

Approximately 626 undergraduate and 339 graduate degrees will be awarded.

Times for commencement reflect candidate assignments based on specific schools and colleges participating in the ceremonies listed below. Receptions for each ceremony will follow on the second floor of the Student Center, located at Bell Avenue and Administration Drive. As a special treat for children, an activity room featuring games, videos and popcorn will be open in room 207 of the Student Center. The room will be open during receptions only.

• 9 a.m. — Ceremony I for candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Lou Rodenberger, a writer and lecturer, will deliver the commencement address. A reception will follow from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

• Noon — Ceremony II for candidates from the College of Nursing. Dr. Cheryl Aspy, educational director for the Oklahoma Center for Family Medicine Research, will be the commencement speaker. A reception will follow from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

• 3 p.m. — Ceremony III for candidates from the College of Health Sciences, the School of Occupational Therapy and the College of Professional Education. Diane Dwight, chair of the Texas Woman’s University Foundation, will be the commencement speaker. Chancellor Stuart will present Dr. Clay with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the ceremony. A reception for graduates and their families will follow from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
  

Dr. Rodenberger earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1947 from TWU (then known as Texas State College for Women). She worked as a newspaper reporter in Kerrville, then taught high school journalism in Levelland. She earned both her master’s and doctorate at Texas A&M University.

Dr. Rodenberger holds the title of Professor Emerita at McMurray University in Abilene, where she taught English for a number of years. She has published numerous writings, many of them in literary and historical journals. In September 2002, First Lady Laura Bush invited her to attend the White House Symposium on Women of the West, which focuses on the literary legacy of women and their lasting impact on the American myth and popular culture.

Dr. Rodenberger is a fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. She is secretary of the TWU Foundation Board, a member of the advisory committee for the TWU Library Woman’s Collection and a 1987 TWU Distinguished Alumna.

Dr. Aspy earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from TWU in 1971 and 1975, respectively. She received her doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1981,
In addition to serving as educational director for the Oklahoma Center for Family Medicine Research,

Dr. Aspy also directs a mini-fellowship in family medicine research and teaches behavioral medicine to second-year family medicine residents at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She has authored or co-authored six books and more than 40 articles, and has presented more than 50 national and international workshops and seminars on a variety of skill development topics.
She was named a TWU Distinguished Alumna in 1999.

Diane Dwight earned her bachelor of science degree in government from TWU in 1976 and her juris doctorate in 1979 from the University of Texas School of Law. She has been licensed to practice law in the state of Texas since 1980 and was a trial lawyer from 1981 through 1997. Her cases focused on cancer, leukemia and lung diseases caused by workplace exposure to asbestos and other substances.

She was one of the first women to serve on the Texas Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors.
Ms. Dwight formerly served on the Governor’s Commission for Women and was a selection committee member for the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame. She currently is chair of the TWU Foundation and a member of that foundation’s board of directors. She also was a donor and organizer for the Sarah Weddington Centennial Leadership Conference at TWU. Ms. Dwight was named a TWU Distinguished Alumna in 2002.

Dr. Clay, Dame Commander of the British Empire and Professor Emerita of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, was the only literacy scholar named as most influential over three decades — the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s — by her peers in the National Reading Conference. She was the first woman appointed professor at the University of Auckland, and was the first non-American elected president of the International Reading Association.

Dr. Clay currently serves in an editorial and advisory role for many of the research projects being carried out by 52 Reading Recovery trainers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

TWU is one of 23 Reading Recovery University Training Centers in the United States, and is the only university in the world providing training for trainers of Descubriendo La Lectura, the Spanish-language version of Reading Recovery.

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For Further Information Contact:

Karen Treat
Senior Copywriter
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: ktreat@twu.edu