Admission to the Texas A&M University commencement convocation address by Gen. David H. Petraeus May 13 will require tickets-free tickets that will be made available starting Monday (April 5), announced university officials.
The free tickets, to be dispensed at the MSC Box Office on the ground floor of Rudder Tower, will be available to the general public as well as to the estimated 6,000 graduates and their families and friends.
Gen. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in the war against terrorism in the Middle East and Central Asia, will speak at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 13, at Reed Arena.
“Gen. Petraeus is one of the most gifted military leaders of his time, and we are extremely honored to have him deliver the address for our commencement convocation this spring,” noted Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin in announcing the general’s visit to Aggieland and address to the Texas A&M degree candidates. “We are all indebted to him for his inspired leadership in helping protect our great nation.”
The Texas A&M president emphasized that he hopes as many people as possible in the Bryan-College Station community and elsewhere will join the university’s degree candidates and their families and friends in taking advantage of the opportunity to hear and help honor “a great American.”
Commencement convocation is a relatively new Texas A&M tradition in which all members of a graduating class have the opportunity to assemble together, along with family members and friends, in an informal setting. It is a prelude to the degree candidates formally receiving their degrees in subsequent ceremonies aligned by the academic colleges representing their major fields of study.
Graduation exercises will be held the following two days, also at Reed Arena, where more than 6,000 students are expected to receive degrees during five ceremonies. The fifth one will include commissioning ceremonies for officers entering the military through the Corps of Cadets, followed by the corps’ traditional school-year-ending Final Review. Commencement convocation and the graduation ceremonies are open to the public.
The deadline for picking up tickets is May 7.
For more information about Gen. Petraeus and Texas A&M’s commencement activities, go to http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/04/01/petraeus-to-speak-commencement-convocation/
Contact: Lane Stephenson, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4662
