Strayer holds virtual commencement exercises

Black Issues in Higher Education, July 15, 2004 by Ronald Roach

ARLINGTON, VA.

Strayer University, a leading for-profit provider of postsecondary education for working adults, is hosting a virtual commencement ceremony to honor Strayer University Online's 2004 graduates. The multifaceted virtual commencement includes all of the traditional graduation components, according to officials.

To view the ceremony, visitors should click on the designated virtual commencement link on the Strayer University Web site at <www.strayer.edu>.

Visitors are welcomed by the national anthem and can navigate through opening remarks, speaker biographies, commencement speeches, degree presentations, and the music of "Pomp and Circumstance."

Guests can also post congratulatory messages to the graduates on the virtual commencement site. This year's virtual commencement highlights an outstanding Strayer University Online student, professor and alumnus.

"Strayer University's virtual commencement salutes their efforts by providing an Internet-based forum to bring graduates, along with their friends and family, together to share in the graduation experience in a way that is similar to how they earned their degree," said Dr. J. Chris Toe, president of Strayer University.

During the degree presentations, each of the 2004 Strayer University Online graduate names is read aloud. As their names are read, interesting Facts about the graduate appear on the screen along with the degree earned and area of academic concentration.

"Our students have balanced the demands of full-time work and family to obtain their educational goals and arrive to this day of commencement," Toe said.

This year's virtual commencement keynote speaker is General Frank Anderson Jr. from the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), based in Ft. Belvoir, Va. "It is an honor to participate in a ceremony that celebrates the accomplishments of Strayer University Online's class of 2004," Anderson said.