News Release| CSULA, Cal State L.A.; Commencement; Graduation Speakers, Wanda Austin, Michael Harper; Class of 2008

May 21, 2008

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Aerospace Corp. CEO, Frost Medalist poet
to address Cal State L.A.’s Class of 2008

Doubleheader Commencement June 6-7

Los Angeles, CA – Culminating its 60th anniversary year, California State University, Los Angeles will conduct a two-day Commencement ceremony Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, in the University Athletic Stadium. More than 3,700 bachelor’s degrees and 1,400 master’s degrees will be conferred at this year’s Commencement exercises.

The Friday 5 p.m. ceremony will honor graduates in the Charter College of Education, College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology, and College of Health and Human Services. Its keynote speaker will be Wanda M. Austin, president and chief executive officer of The Aerospace Corporation.

The Saturday 8 a.m. ceremony will honor graduates in the College of Arts and Letters, College of Business and Economics, and College of Natural and Social Sciences. Its speaker will be Michael S. Harper, first poet laureate of Rhode Island and professor of English at Brown University. Harper, a Cal State L.A. alumnus, received the 2008 Frost Medal (named for American icon of 20th century poetry Robert Frost) from the Poetry Society of America.

During the Friday ceremony, Dionicio Morales, founder of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), will be conferred an honorary doctorate by the California State University Board of Trustees. MAOF is the nation’s largest Latino-serving social service organization, helping children and families in need since 1963.

What:              The Commencement of Cal State L.A.’s 61st graduating class will be a festive celebration.

When:             Fri., June 6, 2008,  5 p.m.

Conferring degrees to grads in the Charter College of Education, College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology, and College of Health and Human Services

Speaker: Wanda M. Austin, president/CEO of The Aerospace Corp.

                        Sat., June 7, 2008,  8 a.m.

Conferring degrees to grads in the College of Arts and Letters, College of Business and Economics, and College of Natural and Social Sciences

Speaker: Michael S. Harper, 2008 Frost Medal recipient/Brown University professor

Where:            Cal State L.A.’s University Athletic Stadium, at the southeast corner of the campus.  The University is located at the Eastern Avenue exit, San Bernardino (I-10) Freeway, at the interchange of the 10 and 710 Freeways.

Info:               For more information, go to www.calstatela.edu/commencement.

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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 200,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu