Vanderbilt to webcast May 12 commencement ceremony live

Vanderbilt University will webcast its main commencement ceremony live May 12 beginning at 9 a.m. The webcast can be watched at www.broadcast.com and will be archived there for one year.

Links on the Vanderbilt (www.vanderbilt.edu) and the Media Relations (www.vanderbilt.edu/News) homepages will also lead to the commencement webcast.

The main commencement ceremony includes the conferring of diplomas to undergraduate students and bestowing of the title "emeritus" or "emerita" to retiring faculty members. This year's ceremony will also mark the final commencement address of Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt, who is retiring in July.

Schools holding separate ceremonies have the option of webcasting their commencements on a tape-delayed basis from broadcast.com. They too will be archived for one year on the site.

This is the third year Vanderbilt has webcast its commencement ceremonies.

The commencement webcast is a joint effort of Vanderbilt's Commencement Office, Vanderbilt Academic Computing and Information Services, the Division of Media Relations, Stone Productions and Yahoo!-broadcast.com.

To watch the commencement webcast, viewers will need to have the application RealPlayer on their computers. RealPlayer works cross-platform and can be downloaded for free at the broadcast.com site. It can also be downloaded from RealNetworks at www.real.com/products/player. Viewers will need at least a 28.8 Kbps connection to the Internet.

COMMENCEMENT INFORMATION

PARKING
Parking will be available in the garage at 25th Avenue South and Highland Avenue for those attending commencement. Shuttle buses will run to Alumni Lawn from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Guests may also park in spaces in lots on campus, except those lots marked with bright blue Medical Center signs and those reserved for guests with mobility impairments.

DISABILITY-RELATED NEEDS
The University has reserved a limited number of parking spaces for guests with mobility impairments. A Commencement 2000 Disability Parking Permit is required to park in one of these spaces. A limited number of wheelchairs are available for loan by prior reservation, and an area within the seating section has been reserved for wheelchair users. For information regarding a reserved disability parking permit or to reserve a wheelchair, contact the Opportunity Development Center at 322-4705 or by mail at Box 1809 Station B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. 37235.

REGALIA
Faculty, officers of administration and students participating in commencement exercises may pick up caps, gowns, tassels and hoods on May 11 in the recreation room at Branscomb Quadrangle by presenting the pink customer copy of the order form between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Regalia may also be picked up May 12 from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. at the same location. All regalia must be returned immediately after commencement by checking it in at the recreation room at Branscomb. Delay in returning regalia will result in an extra fee. Undergraduates, master's candidates and officers of administration with master's degrees may keep the tassels. The gold doctoral tassels are rented and must be returned attached to the cap. Peabody faculty and postbaccalaureate degree candidates should return regalia to Room 121, Social Religious Building, immediately after the ceremony and before the reception at 12:15 p.m

The May 8 issue of the Register will include a complete schedule of commencement-related events and activities.