THE COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA TO CONDUCT FALL COMMENCEMENT DEC. 17, CONFERRING 250 DEGREES

DEC. 5, 2005 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT BOB ASHENMACHER (218) 723-6075

DULUTH, MN - The College of St. Scholastica will conduct its fall 2005 commencement at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, in the Lake Superior Ballroom at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC). For the first time, the December commencement will be held off campus. It will be a combined baccalaureate and master's ceremony, with 250 candidates for graduation.

A total of 155 bachelor's degrees will be awarded. The most numerous baccalaureate majors are (in order): Management, Organizational Behavior, Computer Science Information Systems, Behavioral Arts and Sciences, Social Work and Accounting.

A total of 95 master's degrees will be awarded. The most numerous graduate studies majors are (in order): Management, Education Curriculum and Instruction, Health Information Management, Exercise Physiology and Nursing.

The Duluth Scottish Heritage Pipers will lead the graduates into and out of the ceremony. The American Indian Drum Group will perform a "Welcoming Song" and there will be a musical selection from the St. Scholastica Woodwind Quintet.

Members of the drum group are students or graduates of Grant Elementary School. The group was started as one of the after-school programs of the Grant Community School Collaborative, of which St. Scholastica is a partner. The College and the collaborative won the 2004 Minnesota Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Partnership Award for Campus/Community Collaboratives.

The commencement address will be given by Robert Schroeder, who graduated from St. Scholastica in 1975 with a bachelor of arts degree in behavioral arts and sciences. He received his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis in 1977. From 1990 to 2002 he was a member of St. Scholastica's Board of Trustees. Schroeder is president and chief executive officer of Warehouse Specialists Inc. of Appleton, WI, which provides logistics services to Fortune 500 companies nationwide.

The baccalaureate student address will be given by Scott Wiggins, who will receive his bachelor of arts degree in management from St. Scholastica's St. Paul campus. Wiggins has worked in the Minnesota House of Representatives and in the office of Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He is the director of Government Relations and Strategic Planning for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

The master's student address will be given by Eric Klavetter, who will receive a master of arts degree in Health Information Management. Klavetter is the director for privacy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He also has a juris doctor and a master's in administrative studies from the University of South Dakota, and a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from South Dakota State University.

The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest colleges in the Midwest. The 2006 "America's Best Colleges" survey by U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated St. Scholastica as one of the nation's 100 "hidden gems" among U.S. colleges and universities.