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Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) news anchor Jim Lehrer urged Hamilton College graduates to honor their peers who recently served in the war against Iraq, and exhorted them to "find a way to serve your neighborhood, town, city, state and country...serve a common purpose beyond yourself and your immediate family and/or interests," in his speech at Hamilton's 191st commencement. Bachelor of arts degrees were awarded to 463 Hamilton graduates at the ceremony, held on Sunday, May 25, in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.

At the Jack B. Riffle dinner to honor this year's senior varsity athletes, Lindsey Schantz and Joe Finley were named the 2003 Riffle Award recipients and Olympic Gold medalist Dave Wottle spoke.

Associate Professor of Government Stephen Orvis will participate in a U.S. Department of State seminar to brief U.S. Ambassador to Kenya William M. Bellamy on May 29. Orvis whose expertise is in emerging democracies, will discuss "The Role of Civil Society in the Liberalization Process."

Assistant Professor of English Dana Luciano has been named a Visiting Faculty Fellow for fall 2003 at the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah. She will be in residence at the Tanner Center working on her manuscript, "Revisions of Mourning: Loss, Nationality, and the Longing for Form in Nineteenth-Century America," and related projects focusing on public grief and memorial.

The Hamilton College Alumni Council awarded the inaugural Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award to President Eugene M. Tobin. The purpose of the award is to recognize an employee who has substantially contributed to Hamilton through distinguished performance in his or her position and through involvement in student, alumni or other activities in the college community.

Shayna McHugh '05 has been awarded an American Society of Pharmacognosy Undergraduate Research Grant to pursue her research on the "Investigation of the Bioactive Constituents of Stylotella aurantium from Guam." McHugh's faculty advisor is Professor of Chemistry Robin Kinnel.

Gilbert Adams '45 and his wife, Margaret, were presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Clinton A Better Chance (ABC) Program. The award was presented on the occasion of the ABC program's 30th Anniversary Dinner and Award Celebration held on May 10.

Professor of Psychology George Gescheider was awarded a seven-year research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The $1.7 million grant funds Gescheider's on-going research on the neural basis of the sense of touch. The grant is now in the beginning of its fourth year.

As part of the Wilson Center Asia Program titled "The Chinese Communist Party: the end of the line," Professor of Government Cheng Li gave a briefing on Capitol Hill for congressional staffers and members of congress. Li's talk, "The Chinese Communist Party: The beginning of the new deal," addressed Hu Jintao's economic/social program and also a new norm of sharing power in elite politics.

Before the first new graduate strolls across the stage to receive that long-anticipated Hamilton diploma, months of preparation goes into making Commencement a ceremony worth remembering.