Spring 2009 Commencement Information

Graduates should report to Baldwin Auditorium by 12:30 pm. Pictures will be taken in Baldwin Auditorium starting at noon.
Following the Commencement Ceremony, the University will host a reception on the Mall near the Student Union. This reception is for all students, family members, guests, faculty, staff and administration.

Each degree candidate was issued four rain tickets in the event of inclement weather. Tickets must be presented for entrance into Pershing Building. These tickets do not guarantee seating, which is on a first come, first served basis. Ticket holders will be admitted from noon-1:45 p.m. Arrangements have been made to have closed circuit viewing of the Commencement Ceremony in Baldwin Auditorium for family and friends who do not have tickets. In case of rain, the reception will take place in the Georgian Room of the Student Union Building.

John Ashcroft will address students as the commencement speaker for the graduation ceremony.
 
Ashcroft currently serves as the chairman of The Ashcroft Group, LLC, which provides confidential strategic consulting and crisis counseling to major international corporations.

For the Truman community, Ashcroft is known as the governor who changed the mission of the University. In 1985 he signed legislation transforming Truman from a regional university to the only statewide public liberal arts and sciences university.

Raised in Springfield, Mo., Ashcroft attended public schools until enrolling at Yale University, where he graduated with honors in 1964. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago in 1967. Prior to entering public service, he taught business law at what is now Missouri State University in Springfield. His public service career began in 1973 as Missouri State Auditor, followed by two terms as Missouri’s Attorney General.

Ashcroft served as Governor of Missouri from 1985 through 1993. While Governor, Ashcroft was a staunch supporter of higher education. “Fortune” magazine rated him as one of the top ten education governors in the country, while “Financial World” and “City and State” magazines credited him with making Missouri one of the best financially managed states in the country.

Ashcroft worked with the Coordinating Board for Higher Education and public institutions to ensure Missouri had one of the first statewide systems of assessment in the nation. Ashcroft was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. He was a member of the Senate Judiciary, Foreign Relations and Commerce Committees.

Ashcroft served as the U.S. Attorney General from 2001-2005 where he was the Chief Executive Officer of a Cabinet agency comprised of 110,000 employees with an annual operating budget of $22 billion.

Ashcroft and his wife Janet have three children.