The
pairing of conventional academic gowns with unusual caps has become an Oberlin
faculty Commencement tradition. The fashion inspired Professor of Electronic
and Computer Music Gary Lee Nelson's cat-in-the-hat look for this year's exercises,
during which nearly 700 students received diplomas. AFL-CIO president John J.
Sweeney gave the commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Laws
degree. Two Oberlin alumni also received honorary degrees: Frederick S. Cross
'42, one of the first generation of open-heart surgeons and codeveloper of the
heart-lung machine, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree; Robert McCune
Kingdon '42, considered among the most eminent of scholarly experts on the European
Reformation, received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.
The
Big Picture
