Commencement

• UNDERGRADUATE
• Schedule of Events
• Keynote Speaker
• Broadcast
• Webcast
• Letter to Undergraduates
• Caps and Gowns
• Additional Info (Office of the Registrar)
• Disability Accommodations
• Rain Plan
• GRADUATE
• Schedule of Events
• Keynote Speaker
• Broadcast
• Webcast
• Caps and Gowns
• Additional Info (School of Graduate Studies)
• Disability Accommodations
• RELATED LINKS
• History of Commencement

 

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke will hold separate Commencement ceremonies for students receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees. Approximately 530 undergraduate and 160 graduate students are expected to graduate.

Please refer to the links along the left side of the page for more information.

For general information about Commencement, please call 910.521.6275. For information about tickets, please contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@uncp.edu. Relay: 910.521.6275 or 910.521.6298 (Registrar)

Undergraduate | Graduate

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT CEREMONY

The ceremony for undergraduate students will be held Saturday, May 5 at 9 a.m. in the Quad between Old Main and Livermore Library.

Parking is available on the south side of campus near the railroad tracks (across the tracks from the Livermore Library, Old Main, Oxendine Science Building and the Chancellor's Residence), accessible from HWY 711/Third Street. Additional parking is available north of Jacobs and Wellons Halls near the James B. Chavis University Center, accessible from Odum Street/Prospect Road. Handicapped accessible parking is available in the lots directly in front of Livermore Library, Old Main and Oxendine Science Building, accessible via University Road.

Please arrive early. Entrances open at 7:30 a.m. Entrances will be available on the north and south sides of the Quad. All guests should be seated no later than 8:45 a.m.

The UNCP Bookstore will be open between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and the Spirit Shop will be open in front of the D.F. Lowry Building from 7:30 a.m. to noon.

GRAD IMAGES will take a photo of each graduate during the ceremony. Information will be mailed after Commencement.

Dress for warm weather. Restrooms are available in the rear of Old Main and the front of Moore Hall and Locklear Hall. If you wish to use an umbrella to protect yourself from the sun or rain, please stand behind the seated area to not obstruct the view of others.

Schedule of Events

Undergraduates are to meet in the auxiliary gym of the Jones Athletic Center by 7:30 a.m.

Faculty and administrators are to robe and line-up in the D.F. Lowry Building (entrance west of Starbucks) by 8 a.m.

Trustees, Executive Staff, and the Platform Party, including deans, are to line-up in the Chancellor's Dining Room in the University Center by 8 a.m.

7:30 a.m.	Entrances open for family and guests
8:55 a.m.	Entrances close; Prelude by University Band
9:00 a.m.	Procession of graduates, faculty, and platform party
	Keynote Speaker: Kevin Gover, Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian
	A reception for graduates and their families will be held in the following locations subsequent to the Commencement ceremony. College of Arts and Sciences: Lowry Bell Tower Quad North Lawn School of Business: Business Administration Building Lawn School of Education: Education Center Lawn

Keynote Speaker: Kevin Gover

“Kevin Gover is truly a distinguished commencement speaker, and we are very exited to have him on campus for our undergraduate commencement,” Chancellor Kyle R. Carter said. “He has had a remarkable career in American Indian public affairs and in academia. Today, he leads the most celebrated museum on American Indian history, culture and art in the world.

“As the university celebrates its history and its future during our 125th anniversary, Mr. Gover is a timely and appropriate speaker,” Chancellor Carter continued. “UNC Pembroke has its own distinguished place in American Indian history. We are honored to welcome him to UNCP, the first state institution of higher learning founded by and for the American Indian."

A member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, Gover became director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in 2007. He is a former top administrator in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He came to the museum from Arizona State University in Tempe where he was a law professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, teaching in the Indian Legal Program. He taught courses in federal Indian law, administrative law, statutory interpretation and American Indian policy. He also served as co-executive director of the university’s American Indian Policy Institute.

Located in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of the American Indian opened in 1990 and has one of the most extensive collections of Native American arts and artifacts in the world, originating from the more than 1,200 indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. Ranging from ancient paleo-Indian spear points to contemporary fine arts, the collections include works of aesthetic, religious and historical significance as well as articles produced for everyday use.

Current museum holdings include artifacts from all major cultures of the Western Hemisphere, representing virtually all tribes in the United States, most of Canada and a significant number of cultures from Central and South America and the Caribbean.

With extensive experience in administration of American Indian affairs in Washington and in Indian country, Gover’s hiring was hailed as an ideal choice. He brings extensive knowledge of Indian history and culture to the museum.

Gover grew up in Oklahoma and received his bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University and earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico. He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Princeton University in 2001.

A presidential appointee, Gover served as the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1997-2000. He was responsible for policy and operational oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the agency responsible for the federal government’s relations with Indian tribes. At the bureau, Gover oversaw programs in Indian education, law enforcement, social services, treaty rights and trust asset management.

Gover also practiced law for more than 15 years in Albuquerque, N.M., and Washington D.C. His legal career began in 1983 at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Kampelman in Washington. In 1986, he moved to Albuquerque and founded Gover, Stetson & Williams, where he practiced law until his appointment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He specialized in federal Indian law, commercial transactions, environmental and administrative law and legislative affairs.

Gover continues to serve as an associate judge on the Tonto Apache Court of Appeals and the San Carlos Apache Tribal Court of Appeals. He is a member of the board of trustees for the Grand Canyon Trust in Flagstaff and the board of directors of the Futures for Children in Albuquerque.

GRADUATE STUDENT CEREMONY

The graduate student ceremony will be held Friday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the Givens Performing Arts Center.

Parking is available on the north and south sides of the Givens Performing Arts Center and the east of the James B. Chavis University Center, accessible via Odum Street/Prospect Road. Handicapped accessible parking is available in the lot directly east of the Chavis University Center and University Center Annex and the small lot north of Givens Performing Arts Center.

Please arrive early. Entrance to the auditorium open at 6:00 p.m. All guests should be seated no later than 6:45 p.m.

The UNCP Bookstore will be selling roses and balloons in the lobby of the GPAC.

GRAD IMAGES will take a photo of each graduate during the ceremony. Information will be mailed after Commencement.

Schedule of Events

Graduate students are to meet in the Auxiliary Gym of the Jones Athletic Center by 6 p.m.

Faculty are to robe and line-up in the first floor of Lumbee Hall by 6 p.m.

Administrators are to robe and line-up in the first floor of Lumbee Hall by 6 p.m.

Trustees, Executive Staff, and the Platform Party, including deans, are to line-up in room 1167 of the Jones Athletic Center by 6 p.m.

6:00 p.m.	Entrance opens for family and guests
6:55 p.m.	Entrance closes; Prelude by University Band
7:00 p.m.	Procession of graduates, faculty, and platform party
	Keynote Speaker: Dr. Joseph Lakatos, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting and Information Technology
	A reception will immediately follow the ceremony in the University Center Annex, adjacent to the Givens Performing Arts Center.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Joseph Lakatos

Dr. Joseph Lakatos will deliver the address for the 2012 Spring School of Graduate Studies Commencement. A popular professor in the School of Business, he teaches business law.

In 2011, he won the prestigious UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence. The award honors one outstanding faculty member each year and highlights the importance of teaching at institutions of higher education in North Carolina. He was nominated by his peers and by students, who describe him as amazing.

Also last spring, Dr. Lakatos was voted by students as the person they wanted to deliver the University’s first “Last Lecture.” He has been an inspiration to the entire campus as his lecture demonstrated. The theme was “Living Life Within Yourself. It was part theatre and part inspiration. “I want our students to believe in themselves,” he said, “and I want to get to their core. If this is my last lecture, I’m going for it.”

Dr. Lakatos was diagnosed with late-stage follicular lymphoma and underwent grueling radiation and chemotherapy treatments. His doctors say he will require a risky autonomous stem cell transplant in the future if he is to survive.

Fortunately, that was not Dr. Lakatos’ last lecture and he continued in the job he loves best – teaching. Because his health does not allow for frequent public contact, Dr. Lakatos teaches via video connection.. He was scheduled to speak at the 2011 Winter Commencement but was forced to cancel.

Dr. Lakatos was not always a teacher. He earned two law degrees and a Master’s of Business Administration degree. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. He worked in a Manhattan law office and for the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments in Boston, Mass.

When he found teaching, Dr. Lakatos found his core. “I fell in love with teaching, and I find it’s a great way to give back,” he said. His students describe him as an extraordinarily interesting teacher, even on video, and an extraordinarily caring person who will take time to listen.

He published an inspirational children’s book in 2010 with his young son, Dillon. “Angel and Diesel” was well received and proceeds from its sale go to cancer research.

For somebody with so much to lose and so close to losing it, Dr. Lakatos continues to give back through his teaching. Life should be full of passion, but it does not come with guarantees, he said.

“In your lifetime,” he said, “you will have challenges, things will come at you. One day you will stand up and say ‘this is what I’m passionate about.’”

Dr. Lakatos came to UNCP in 2003. He is a tenured associate professor in the School of Business Department of Accounting and Information Technology.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame, he earned an MBA and Juris Doctorate from St. Johns University and a Master of Laws degree from Boston University.

BROADCAST

Commencement is being recorded by WNCP-TV Channel 6 for Robeson County Time Warner Cable. It will be aired on Wednesday, May 9 at 6 a.m. and on Saturday, May 12 at 4 p.m.

WEBCAST

Archived Webcasts of Commencement will be available after Commencement. Please be patient while the video loads.

• 2012
  • Spring
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
• 2011
  • Winter:
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
  • Spring
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
• 2010
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2009
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2008
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2007
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2006
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2005
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2004
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2003
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2002
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 2001
  • Winter
  • Spring | Army ROTC Commissioning
• 2000
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 1999
  • Winter
  • Spring
• 1998

Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2012

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