Wittenberg University’s 167th Commencement exercises will take place Saturday, May 12, in picturesque Commencement Hollow, where members of the university community will celebrate scholarship with 410 degree candidates slated to cross the stage.

The Myers Hall bell will toll at multiple times Saturday morning to notify the campus that the ceremony will be held in its intended outdoor location at the scheduled time of 11:30 a.m. If the bell does not ring, that will be a signal that the ceremony will take place in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Center, with doors scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Guests should be seated at either venue no later than 11 a.m.

If the ceremony is moved to the HPER Center, doors to Pam Evans Smith Arena will close at 11:15 a.m. to allow for movement of the academic procession. No one will be permitted to enter the arena after the doors have closed. Guests without tickets are welcomed and encouraged to view the ceremony via a video broadcast transmitted to classrooms throughout Hollenbeck Hall.

Special parking and seating have been arranged for physically disabled guests. For Commencement exercises held outdoors, physically disabled guests may enter campus before 10 a.m. through the drive on North Plum Street. A Wittenberg security officer will be at the driveway entrance to give instructions for parking and seating. In the event the exercises are held indoors, physically disabled guests may be dropped off in front of the HPER Center. Because of limited space in the HPER Center, seating is at a premium, so disabled guests may be seated with only one friend or family member.

Those scheduled for recognition during the Commencement ceremony include 19 “non-traditional” students from the School of Community Education and international students from China, Jamaica, Nepal, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania and Viet Nam. The Class of 2012 is comprised of 259 females and 151 males, with biology, business, communication, education, English, political science and psychology representing the most popular majors.

Thirty states and the aforementioned seven countries outside of the United States are represented within the graduating class. Undergraduate degrees to be awarded are Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Science, in addition to Master of Arts in Education. Three students in the class have earned two degrees during their collegiate career at Wittenberg.