Yale holds its 304th commencement
Yale held its 304th Commencement festivities the Monday before last, May 23. About 10,000 people gathered on the Old Campus for the ceremonies at which 1,242 assembled undergraduates and 1,050 graduate and professional students received their diplomas. The ceremony was a coming of age for Yale's Class of 2005, who had been in college less than two weeks when the events of September 11, 2001, took place.

The previous day, Sunday's skies sprinkled rain on most of the official Class Day activities. But on the day of Commencement itself, the bad weather stayed away. President Levin's Baccalaureate address, entitled "Reviving Public Discourse," may be read here. This year's honorary degrees:

Jacqueline Barton, a pioneer in the field of DNA research, was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree.

Robert DeVecchi received a doctorate of humane letters for his crusading work as president of the International Refugee Committee.

William Foege, an epidemiologist who helped eradicate the threat of smallpox, received an honorary doctorate in medical sciences.

The celebrated artist David Hockney received a doctor of fine arts degree for his work as a painter, photographer, engraver, and graphic designer. 

Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, the first black (and first woman) to head South Africa's University of Cape Town, was awarded a doctorate of humane letters.

The well-known economist and Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson received an honorary doctorate in social sciences.

A doctorate of laws went to Bryan Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama and has spent decades working to provide equitable legal representation for all members of society.

The British mathematician Andrew Wiles, who in 1994 became the first person to prove Fermat's last theorem since it was postulated 357 years earlier, was awarded a doctorate of science. 

The reunion season is now in full swing at Yale. The Yale College classes of 1940, 1960, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985 and 1990 held their reunions last weekend, May 26 thru 29; the classes of 1945, 1950, 1955, 1965, 1995 & 2000 will be holding them this weekend, June 2 thru 5. Reunions have become so popular in the past decade that the AYA now divides them between two weekends, so that there will be enough room for everybody who wants to attend.