UH Manoa to celebrate summer 2006 commencement

Columnist and former KGMB news anchor Jade Moon will deliver commencement address

The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa will hold commencement exercises for more than 750 students this Sunday, August 13, 2006, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The ceremony — at the lower campus Stan Sheriff Center — will include conferral of degrees for both undergraduates and advanced degree candidates.

Keynote speaker for the ceremony is Jade Moon, longtime columnist for MidWeek and until last year an Emmy award-winning news anchor at KGMB. Much of Ms. Moon‘s reporting and commentary have focused on education and health care, and she‘s been recognized for her coverage of those issues by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, the Hawaiʻi Medical Association, the Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi and the American Cancer Society. She received an Emmy in 2002.

Ms. Moon left the television anchor desk last year to devote more time to her family and to island charities and community projects. She‘s a Hawaiʻi native who grew up in rural neighborhoods on Maui and Oʻahu, but who also lived in Europe and on the mainland at various times with her well-traveled military family. She is a graduate of the journalism program at UH Manoa.

Representing the graduating class as student speaker is Teresa Madden, who will receive her bachelor‘s degree in political science at this weekend‘s ceremony. Ms. Madden is a non-traditional student, having returned to UH to complete her undergraduate degree two years ago at age 49. She has a background in real estate sales, and is also a seasoned stage performer and director. Her work in theater as a student included an appearance in Vinegar Tom at the Ernst Lab Theatre and assisting with the direction of the Kennedy Theatre mainstage production of Battle of Will.

Ms. Madden plans to do graduate work, and to be involved in the work of VSA Arts, an international non-profit organization founded to create a society in which all people with disabilities learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts.

Candidates for honors are Kylie A. Abe, Scott E. Clark, Jay H. Dow, Jeffery S. Mull, Everett H. Ohta, and Xiangru C. Tang.

Doors to the Stan Sheriff Center will open at 8 a.m. for the combined undergraduate and advanced degree ceremony which is expected to last for about two hours. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis; there are no tickets issued. Balloons and strollers are not allowed inside the Stan Sheriff Center.

Free parking will be available in the lower campus parking structure; there will be no shuttle service from upper campus parking lots. Friends and family members may greet graduates following the ceremony at Les Murakami Stadium, and authorized lei vendors will be located in front of the stadium. There will be a live webcast of the ceremony. For information on the webcast and further details about the commencement ceremony, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu/commencement.

For more information, visit: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/commencement