Cornell will celebrate its 139th Commencement Weekend, May 26-27, with about 6,000 graduates getting their diplomas. Cornell President David J. Skorton will give his first Commencement address, and the Convocation speaker will be CNN television journalist Soledad O'Brien.

O'Brien will give the Senior Convocation Address, May 26, at noon in Schoellkopf Stadium; Skorton will preside over the Commencement ceremony May 27, at 11 a.m., also in the stadium. Both events are open to graduates, their families and the public.

O'Brien is a former anchor and now a special correspondent for CNN's Special Investigations Unit, reporting for documentaries and series on important stories for all major CNN programs.

The May 26 convocation ceremony also will feature an address by Cornell Senior Class President Edvard Gumbs, as well as the presentation of a gift to the university from the senior class.

Other Commencement Weekend events include:

May 26:

Sunday, May 27:

How to see and hear the ceremonies:

Saturday's Convocation ceremony will be live-streamed on the Web at http://www.cornell.edu.

Sunday's Commencement ceremony can be seen live on Tompkins County Time Warner Cable Channel 16 and Cornell University Television Channel 100, and it will be live-streamed on the Web at http://www.cornell.edu. WHCU-AM (870) radio also will broadcast the ceremony live.

For general information about Cornell Commencement:

See http://www.commencement.cornell.edu.