Cornell will celebrate its 133rd Commencement Sunday, May 27, with President Hunter Rawlings presiding over the ceremony at 11 a.m. on Schoellkopf Field. Rawlings will present the commencement address and confer degrees on more than 6,000 eligible candidates, capping two days of celebratory activities.

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will speak at Senior Convocation Saturday, May 26, which will be held in Barton Hall at noon for graduates and their families and guests. Rawlings will introduce Reno, a Cornell alumna. Also speaking will be Claire Ackerman, senior class president, convocation chair Nageeb Sumar, and Class of 2001 alumni co-presidents Joanne Schleifman and Jamie Aycock.

A member of Cornell's Class of 1960, Reno was selected to speak by the Senior Class Council of the Class of 2001, which polled students on their choice for speaker. As attorney general during the administration of President Bill Clinton, for almost eight years she headed the world's largest justice and law enforcement office, responsible for the enforcement of federal laws and for representing the government in court. She was the longest-serving attorney general since before the Civil War. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls in 2000.

A native of South Florida, Reno attended Dade County public schools and worked her way through Cornell as a waitress. She graduated with a major in chemistry in 1960 and then earned her law degree from Harvard Law School. Reno spoke at Cornell in October 1994. Since leaving her post, she lives in South Florida and has announced she will continue to be involved with issues important to her, including dispute resolution, advocacy for children and the elderly, and problem solving in law enforcement.

Other Commencement weekend events include:

Saturday, May 26:

• Phi Beta Kappa Induction: New members of the Cornell chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will be inducted in a ceremony in G-1 Uris Hall at 10 a.m.
• ROTC Commissioning: The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Brigade will commission officers into the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force during a ceremony in David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, at 2 p.m.
• President's Parent Reception: President Rawlings and the Cornell Board of Trustees will host a reception for degree candidates, their families and guests from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on the Arts Quad.
• D.V.M. Hooding Ceremony: New doctors of veterinary medicine will take the Veterinarian's Oath and receive their hoods in Alice Statler Auditorium beginning at 3 p.m.
• Ph.D. Recognition Ceremony: Recipients of doctoral degrees will be individually recognized for their significant academic achievements in Barton Hall at 5 p.m. Rawlings and Walter I. Cohen, Graduate School dean, will congratulate each recipient. Degrees will be conferred during the general Commencement ceremony Sunday.

Other special events for graduates and their families on Saturday include tours of Cornell Plantations from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., a Cornell Wind Ensemble concert on the Arts Quad at 3 p.m. and the Senior Week Concert by the Glee Club and Chorus in Bailey Hall at 8 p.m.

Sunday, May 27:

• Baccalaureate Service: The Rev. Robert L. Johnson, retiring director of Cornell United Religious Work, will present an address titled "The Glory of Everything" at 8:30 a.m. in Bailey Hall. This interfaith service honors all graduating students and retiring faculty members. The university choruses and Cornell Wind Ensemble will perform.
• Commencement: The Commencement procession will assemble on the Arts Quad at 9:20 a.m. The ceremony in Schoellkopf Field will begin at 11 a.m.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on Time-Warner cable television Channel 16 in Tompkins County beginning at 10 a.m. Viewing will be available on campus in Bartels Hall, Statler Hall, Kennedy Hall and Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. From 12:30 to 3 p.m., individual colleges and schools will hold receptions at locations throughout the campus.