FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — More than 6,600 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis students will be awarded 6,717 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees at Lucas Oil Stadium, the new home of IUPUI commencement activities.
Unlike previous years, all degree-granting schools at IUPUI will participate in one campus-wide commencement ceremony that will take place at 1 p.m. May 8, Mother’s Day, at the home of the Indianapolis Colts, 500 S. Capitol Ave. The precedent for a single ceremony dates back to the years when IUPUI’s commencement took place at the RCA Dome. When the facility was demolished in 2008, the ceremony was moved to the Indiana Convention Center, where it was split into two sessions due to space constraints.
Individual school recognition events celebrating individual student achievement will take place at the Indiana Convention Center. They will begin one hour after the main ceremony ends, with the exception of the IU School of Medicine, IU School of Dentistry and IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law events, which will be held on Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
This year’s main ceremony commencement speakers, who will be onstage in front of more than 25,000 graduates and guests, are John C. Lechleiter and Rosie Bryant.
Lechleiter is the president, chief executive officer and chair of the board of directors of Eli Lilly and Company, which is based in Indianapolis and is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers. In 2013, Indiana University awarded Lechleiter an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to pharmaceutical science and his industry leadership.
Bryant was nominated for the IUPUI Top 100 and Rising Star awards. She is a member of the B.S.W. Student Association, the Phi Alpha Honor Society and Students for Fair Wages. Bryant also interns at Jobs with Justice, where she has been recognized as a driving force of the organization. She will graduate with a Bachelor of Social Work degree and will begin the Master of Social Work program this summer.
Also at this year’s ceremony, Robert Schrier will receive an honorary doctorate. Schrier is a world-renowned nephrologist whose honors include the IU School of Medicine Distinguished Alumnus Award.
A schedule of all activities can be found on the Commencement 2016 webpage.