(New Orleans)—The Loyola University New Orleans commencement ceremonies honoring the 2007 candidates for graduation from undergraduate and graduate studies from Loyola University New Orleans College of Humanities and Natural Sciences, College of Social Sciences, College of Music and Fine Arts, College of Business, and the College of Law will take place Friday, May 11 through Saturday, May 12 in the New Orleans Arena. Loyola will award 225 law degrees and 800 undergraduate and graduate degrees.

This year, there will be two separate commencement ceremonies, one for the College of Law on Friday, May 11, at 7 p.m., and an unified ceremony for the other academic colleges on Saturday, May 12, at 10 a.m. There will be one university-wide Baccalaureate Mass for all graduates on Friday, May 11, at 3 p.m., which will be held on the Loyola campus in the Recreational Sports Complex. The Archbishop of New Orleans, the Most Reverend Alfred C. Hughes, will preside over the Mass. There will be a Loyola Institute for Ministry Extension Program Commencement Liturgy, held in the Ignatius Chapel in Bobet Hall, on Saturday, May 12, at 4:30 pm.

Richard Thornburgh, former attorney general of the United States and governor of Pennsylvania, will address the 2007 law graduates on May 11. Thornburgh also served as the under-secretary-general of the United Nations during a public career which spanned over 25 years.

Julian Bond, a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will address the 2007 graduating class during the unified ceremony on May 12. He will also receive an honorary degree in Humane Letters. Julian Bond has been a revolutionary for social change for almost 50 years. He has been a university professor, a writer, and an activist who has faced jail time for his convictions.

This year’s honorary degrees will go to music legend civil rights activist Julian Bond; musician and educator Ellis Marsalis, Jr.; internationally-known New Orleans artist John T. Scott; advocacy and volunteer group The Women of the Storm (www.womenofthestorm.net); and The Times-Picayune for heroic service to the city and region during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Loyola University New Orleans is a Jesuit-Catholic institution with a total student enrollment of 4,724 including 800 law students.