Spring Commencement Set At TAMIU Saturday, May 15

A record 367 candidates for undergraduate or graduate degrees are scheduled to participate in Spring 2004 Commencement Exercises at Texas A&M International University on Saturday, May 15 at 8 p.m. outdoors on the University Plaza.

This is the largest graduating group in the history of the University. The previous record was the December 2003 class of 294 graduates.

Commencement Address will be provided by US Senator John Cornyn.

Senator Cornyn of San Antonio, was sworn in to the United States Senate on December 2, 2002, succeeding Phil Gramm.

Cornyn previously served as Texas as Attorney General from 1999-2002, directing many programs vital to the interests of Texas families, including child support and consumer protection while also providing legal representation to more than 300 state agencies.

Prior to serving as Attorney General, Senator Cornyn served as a District Court Judge in San Antonio; he was elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1990 and re-elected in 1996. He resigned from the Texas Supreme Court to run for Attorney General for Texas and was the first Republican to win the position since Reconstruction.

Business Week magazine has called him a national leader on privacy protection interests. In 2000, he received the Outstanding Texas Leader Award from the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Forum. In 2001, the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas presented him with the James Madison Award for his efforts to promote open government. He was recognized in 2002 by the Texas chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Publishers for his outstanding Hispanic outreach while Attorney General.

Born in Houston, he is a graduate of San Antonio's Trinity University and St. Mary's School of Law. He also earned a Masters of Law from the University of Virginia Law School in 1995 and was named the St. Mary's Distinguished Law School Graduate in 1994 and a Trinity University Distinguished Alumnus in 2001.

For further information, please contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at 326-2180, e-mail pais@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.

University office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.