The Messenger 04.24.08

University of Tennessee at Martin commencement will be May 10, with UT Martin alumnus and Memphis surgeon Dr. David LaVelle delivering the commencement address.
The event is set for 11 a.m. in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center and a record 768 graduates will receive diplomas.
UT Martin Chancellor Dr. Tom Rakes will preside over the exercises and confer degrees. Dr. Paul Sharma, UT National Alumni Association Alumni Distinguished Service Professor, will be the mace bearer and the processional marshals will be Dr. Elaine Harriss, faculty senate president; Dr. Richard Joost, faculty senate representative; Al Hooten, vice chancellor for finance and administration; and Dr. Jerald Ogg, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Delana Easley, UT Martin accompanist, and the UT Martin saxophone quartet will perform the processional and the quartet will perform special music. Dr. Dwight Gatwood, professor of music who is retiring after 36 years, will perform the alma mater, which he composed.
Immediately following commencement, a reception will be held in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
LaVelle joined the medical staff of Campbell Clinic in Memphis in 1985 after graduating from the University of Tennessee at Martin and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and completing his residency at Campbell Clinic. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
He also is an associate professor at UT Health Science Center Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and is a Richards/Smith and Nephew professional consultant.
Each graduate will receive up to six free tickets to admit guests to the commencement program. Overflow seating with a video and audio feed of the ceremony will be provided in the fieldhouse for all guests without tickets.
Graduates can get their tickets at the Grand Finale Senior Walk on April 30 and later that afternoon following student commencement practice in the Elam Center. Tickets for graduating students will remain available in the Office of Academic Records until 5 p.m. May 9.
A limited number of additional complimentary tickets will be available to graduates (up to an additional six tickets) and to faculty and staff and the general public (up to two per person), on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last beginning May 1 in the Office of Academic Records on the first floor of the Administration Building.
Any tickets not claimed by 5 p.m. May 9 will be distributed to the general public at a designated area outside the Elam Center beginning at 9 a.m. prior to the spring commencement ceremony on May 10.