We look forward to honoring our graduates during our  

85th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 15 at 10 a.m.!  

As previously announced, veteran news journalist  

Sam Donaldson will be our keynote speaker.  

The Office of the Registrar reports 932 candidates  

for our May graduation. Of these, 851 will receive their undergraduate degrees, and 81 will receive graduate degrees. Each year our graduates provide a snapshot of current trends and the popularity of specific fields of study. This year is no different. The top five majors of the class of 2011 include the following:

• Communication Studies
• Psychology
• Biology
• Political Science
• History

Additionally, the College of Social Sciences will have the highest number of graduates this year, and we will see 91 President's Leadership Program and 21 Honors Program students receive diplomas.

Congratulations to each of our graduates. We wish them the best as they lead lives of significance and make a positive difference in the world.  

CNU will offer a new undergraduate major in neuroscience in the 2011-12 academic year. The scientific study of the brain, spinal cord and sensory nerve network will involve existing CNU coursework in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and psychology, in addition to new courses and labs on cutting-edge research methods, on neurobiology, on the neurobiology of memory and on neuroanatomy. Dr. Noah Schwartz, assistant professor of psychology, will serve as program director.  

This fall a newly recruited faculty member will add to the neurobiology offerings in the program. Dr. Katie Wiens received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota, home to one of the most respected doctoral programs in this academic area. She comes to CNU from Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she completed a five-year post-doctoral fellowship to further advance her expertise. Dr. Wiens is passionate about undergraduate teaching and eager to establish new laboratories in our new science center - Mary Brock Forbes Hall - that will directly involve undergraduate students.

CNU's baseball team is No. 1! The Captains (35-4) recently moved into the top spot for the first time in school history, earning all 25 first-place votes in the D3Baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll. CNU previously was ranked No. 4 before winning the USA South Championship, dropping the previous No. 1 team, Shenandoah University, twice in the process.

Five More Teams Compete for USA South Crowns  

Five additional CNU teams competed for USA South Conference championships in April. Two - women's lacrosse and men's golf - captured their respective titles.  

Also representing CNU in title play were softball and both men's and women's tennis. We congratulate our outstanding student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and on the field of play. Learn more about these championship contests at cnusports.com

Congratulations to seniors Ryan Ingalls and Joe Wilkerson who represented CNU with a fifth-place finish in the  

FLW College Fishing National Championship. The duo caught a total of 25 pounds, eight ounces, earning $10,000 in prize money. They competed against more than 20 teams, finishing ahead of Virginia Tech, San Jose State, University of North Carolina and Texas A&M, among others.  

Women's Basketball Finishes Third in the Nation!   

CNU continues to provide invaluable undergraduate research opportunities. On Saturday, March 26, more than 125 students presented the results of their scholarly pursuits at the 10th annual meeting of Paideia, CNU's celebration of undergraduate creativity and research.  

The Greek word "Paideia (παιδεία)" refers to the classical Greek education of liberal learning that developed the intellectual, moral and aesthetic capacities of students for full involvement as citizens of the state.  

A small, dedicated group of faculty organized the first meeting of Paideia in 2002. Along with Douglas Gordon, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, they envisioned a yearly celebration of undergraduate student research from across CNU.

This year students presented research on a wide range of topics, from Michelle Kaiser's paper on "Roman Tourists and Spartan Barbarians: Cultural Appropriation in the 1st Century BCE," sponsored by Dr. Steven Spalding, to Jacquelyn Doroski and Vanessa Correll's paper on the "Effects of Rhenium (Re) on Zebra fish (Danio rerio)," sponsored by Dr. Lisa Webb. The conference also included a keynote address from Dean Steven Breese of the College of Arts and Humanities. His talk, "The Art of Undergraduate Research," highlighted the role of the fine and performing arts in the life of the liberally educated person.

The Office for Undergraduate Research and the Undergraduate-Graduate Research Council plan on expanding Paideia 2012 to include creative works and performances, a session featuring transdisciplinary projects, and a workshop for prospective CNU students.  

Visit www.cnu.edu/research/paideia for the complete list of 2011 Paideia research presentations.

Luter Hall Construction to Begin in July

Construction of Joseph W. Luter, III Hall will begin this summer. The $54.6 million facility will be CNU's largest academic building and house the Luter School of Business and the departments of economics; sociology, social work and anthropology; leadership and American studies; mathematics; physics, computer science and engineering.

Luter Hall will include a trading room; a 100-seat tiered lecture hall; 14 traditional classrooms; nine teaching labs; seven computer classrooms; eight research labs; three reading rooms; 135 faculty offices; a boardroom; public interaction spaces; and state-of-the-art technology.  The building is scheduled to open fall 2013.Freeman Center Expansion

The Freeman Sports and Convocation Center expansion will be completed this summer. The addition will double the size of the Trieshmann Health and Fitness Pavilion, provide offices for Counseling and University Health Services, and add an auxiliary gymnasium, a new 400-seat Gaines Auditorium, and an array of meeting rooms for student activities.  

New Residence Halls

To accommodate 4,000 residential students, a new sophomore residence hall, Warwick River Hall is now under construction and will open in fall 2012. The new facility will accommodate 500 students in four-person suites. An additional residential complex will open in fall 2013 and provide 500 private bedrooms and baths for upper-class students.

The Women's Chorus, under the direction of Dr. Lauren Fowler-Calisto, will join the Marching Captains in London to participate in the New Year's celebrations surrounding Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.   

The chorus will sing Jan. 2, 2012, in the historic Southwark Cathedral, under the baton of world-renowned conductor Simon Carrington. Maestro Carrington was the creative force for 25 years behind the internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble The King's Singer's, which he co-founded at Cambridge University.

For more information, visit music.cnu.edu.

Since 2005 more than 1 million people have seen the finest artists in the world perform on the stages of the Ferguson Center for the Arts.The past season featured a wide range of more than 40 artists and attractions from Amy Grant to the Blue Man Group and from the BBC Concert Orchestra to Broadway's Spamalot.   

On May 12, the Ferguson Center will announce the exciting 2011-2012 season to its e-club.Join the Ferguson Center e-club and be among the very first to learn of the exciting 2011-2012 lineup. 

Question:          

Can I live on campus all four years of college? 

Answer:         

Yes! Every national study shows that students who live on campus are more successful both academically and socially.  With this year's freshman class, CNU students are required to live on campus during their freshman, sophomore and junior years. To provide more student housing the new Warwick River Residence Hall will open in August 2012 and another new residence hall will open in August 2013.

Given our exceptional facilities, our students want to live on campus and we embrace their passion for CNU and welcome their contributions to our academic.   

Email your questions to askPST@cnu.edu.