Commencement to be webcast live Sunday morning
U. S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, seen above during a 2008 event at Maples Pavilion, will give the Commencement address on June 14.
About 25,000 people are expected on campus this weekend to celebrate the award of nearly 5,000 academic degrees during Stanford's 118th Commencement.
Anthony Kennedy, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, will deliver the Commencement address. The ceremony kicks off with a traditional procession and the not-so-traditional "Wacky Walk" at 9:30 a.m. Sunday in Stanford Stadium. No tickets are required, and gates open at 8 a.m.
The ceremony will be webcast live at http://commencement.stanford.edu/webcast.
Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, will deliver the Baccalaureate address at 9:30 a.m. Saturday on the Main Quad. Baccalaureate is free and open to the public.
Neuroendocrinologist Robert Sapolsky, the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor, will give the Senior Class Day lecture in Maples Pavilion two hours later. That event is free for graduates and their guests with prior reservations.
Commencement marks a sort of homecoming for Kennedy. Appointed to the Supreme Court in 1988 by President Reagan, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1958 from Stanford after spending a year studying at the London School of Economics. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1961.
There will be 63 individual diploma award ceremonies held across campus starting at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, and special tours of campus, Jasper Ridge and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will be offered from Thursday to Sunday.
Preparation for Commencement Weekend includes setting up 45,070 chairs, 1,689 tables, 540 umbrellas and 651 trashcans, and calls for limitless patience for those arriving at Stanford by car.
Galvez Street between Serra Street and Campus Drive will be closed after Commencement, and traffic along Nelson Road, Campus Drive and other streets near the stadium will be highly congested before and after the ceremony.
Parking will be available in lots surrounding the stadium, but some lots require a permit.