December Graduates Get Best Holiday Gift

More than 2,500 University of Maryland students will get one of their best holiday gifts shortly before Christmas - their college diplomas or advanced degrees.

The university's winter commencement will be held on Wednesday, December 21, 7 p.m, in the Comcast Center .

Individual college ceremonies will take place the following day, on Thursday, December 22 in various locations. The number of students to receive bachelor's degrees is 1,666. A total of 1,129 are completing master's and doctoral studies.

The commencement speaker is John Splaine, a noted educator who has received accolades from students and peers alike. Maryland graduating senior Samy Bassam Muaddi, a first generation Arab-American, will be the student speaker.

Guests should be seated by 6:30 to observe the processional, which begins at 7:00. Seating is first-come-first-served. Tickets are not required. Parking will be available in Lot 4B and the Terrapin Trail Garage.

Commencement Speaker

John Splaine, associate professor emeritus in the University of Maryland 's College of Education and recently retired Amos B. Hostetter, Jr. chair at the University of Denver , has made a career out of getting students excited about learning. Students chose him to be honored by Kappa Delta Pi, an international education honor society, and he was named a Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars Program Faculty Mentor in 2000. The program honors the university's most successful seniors and teachers they name as important to them.

Splaine began his career as a high school history teacher in New Hampshire . He directed the University of New Hampshire 's Upward Bound program for low-income college students from 1970 to 1973, then came to the university, where he taught until 2001. Splaine recently used his experience on political campaigns to teach media literacy to teachers in Croatia and Montenegro . He says being even a small part of the region's "peaceful revolution was a great adventure, one of the highlights of my life."

Student Speaker

The son of parents who immigrated from Palestine and Jordan to the U.S. in 1967, economics major Samy Bassam Muaddi will leave a legacy of unity at Maryland . Two years ago, amidst campus tensions between Jewish and Arab students, he co-founded The Common Grounds Project. A collaboration between the Jewish Leadership Council and the Organization of Arab Students, it "asks Palestinian Americans and Israeli Americans to come together to explore what common ground we have to stand on," says Muaddi.

This past summer, Muaddi interned with Beit Sahour municipality in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank , writing successful grant proposals for humanitarian aid and development projects. "I gained a greater appreciation for my family and why my parents raised me the way they did," he says of the experience.

Muaddi also co-founded Terp Runners, ran on several marathon teams, and was a member of a Debkeh troupe, which performs traditional Arabic folk dance. His goals include working on economic development in Middle Eastern and sub-Saharan Africa and convincing his parents to write their autobiographies.

Muaddi is the son of Bassam and Alice Muaddi of Maple Shade, NJ . He is a graduate of Holy Cross High School , Delran , NJ .

Detailed information on commencement is available on the University of Maryland Website, http://www.commencement.umd.edu/weekend/index.cfm.

MEDIA: Media seating and phone outlets will be available. Risers and a mult-box will be arranged in the rear of the arena for cameras and microphones.

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