WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., June 4, 2005 -- Williams College President Morton Owen Schapiro will confer Bachelor of Arts degrees on 504 undergraduates at the college's 216th Commencement on Sunday, June 5. Fourteen students in the History of Art Program and 29 fellows from the Center for Development Economics will receive Master of Arts degrees. The New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman will be the Commencement speaker.

The procession, led by Berkshire County Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano, steps off at 9:30 a.m. from Chapin Lawn, with the ceremony beginning at West College Lawn at 10 a.m. (The outdoor ceremonies are open to the public. If ceremonies are moved inside because of inclement weather, admission to the rain site - Lansing Chapman Hockey Rink - will be by ticket only.)

Three graduating seniors will speak at Commencement. Ivan Manolov, a triple-major in mathematics, economics, and German, from Sofia, Bulgaria will deliver the Valedictorian speech titled "A Commitment to Dreams." The Phi Beta Kappa speaker, Colin D. Bruzewicz, a physics and history major from Lebanon, N.H. will discuss "And on a lighter note …". John Benjamin Cronin, a political science and history major, from Duxbury, Mass., chosen by his classmates as Class Speaker, will talk on "The Summer Hills." Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist, The New York Times, will be the principal speaker. The title of his speech is "Journalism as Life."

President Schapiro will confer honorary degrees on four men and three women. The recipients are Julian Bond, Doctor of Humane Letters; Thomas L. Friedman, Doctor of Letters; Evelyn Glennie, Doctor of Music; Ellsworth Kelly, Doctor of Fine Arts; Jhumpa Lahiri, Doctor of Letters; Joseph L. Rice, III, Doctor of Laws; and Sally Shaywitz, Doctor of Science.

Williams will also honor the four recipients of its national George Olmsted, Jr., Class of 1924 Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching. The four recipients of the 2005 George Olmsted, Jr., Class of 1924 Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching are Navin C. Dhakal of the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Bryan K. Garman of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.; Paulette LaParle of Barrington High School in Barrington, R.I.; and Myra Loris, of Highland Park High School, in Highland Park, Ill.

On Saturday morning, June 4, elected seniors will be inducted into two academic honor societies. Forty-two seniors were elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The Phi Beta Kappa Induction will be held in the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance at 9 a.m. Forty-two seniors were elected to Sigma Xi, the national scientific honor society. The Sigma Xi Induction will be held in the Science Center Court at 10:30 a.m.

At 10:45 a.m. there will be a conversation and demonstration with honorary degree recipient Evelyn Glennie, world-renowned solo percussionist. She has recorded numerous solo albums for RCA/BMG including "MacMillan: Veni, Veni, Emmanual"; "Wind in the Bamboo Grove"; "Drumming"; and "Shadow Behind the Iron Sun" and has performed with many of the world's great orchestras.

Saturday afternoon at the informal Ivy Exercises on West College Lawn begin at 1:30 p.m., members of the Senior Class will present the Class Poem and History, sing the Class Song, and plant the traditional ivy. Nancy Roseman, dean of the college, will present awards and prizes, including the national Olmsted Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching, awarded annually since 1984. At the close of the Ivy Exercises, Class President James Irving from Louisville, Ky. and Vice President Elena Bonifacio from Yorktown Heights, N.Y, will drop a watch from the 80-foot spire of Thompson Memorial Chapel. According to tradition, the senior class will have good luck if the watch breaks.

At 5 p.m. an Interfaith Baccalaureate Service for seniors and their parents will be held in Chapin Hall. President Schapiro will deliver a Message to the Class of 2005. Julian Bond, civil rights activist and politician, will be the baccalaureate speaker. Admission is by ticket only. The service will be conducted by The Rev. Richard E. Spalding, chaplain to the college, assisted by associate chaplains, Brother Peter Feudo, Cantor Robert Scherr, and Fatma Kassamali, advisor to Muslim students. Readings will be given by student members of the campus religious communities. The Williams College Baccalaureate Choir, under the direction of Bradley Wells, artist in residence, will sing an arrangement of Thomas A. Dorsey's classic "Precious Lord," as well as "Ta Lendab Mesipuu Poole," a traditional anthem of leave-taking by Estonian composer Peep Sarapik.

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Williams College is consistently ranked one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their undergraduate teaching. The achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in research. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted. Founded in 1793, it is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college is located in Williamstown, Mass. To visit the college on the Internet: www.williams.edu