Class Day Information
Attention Class of 2010: This page has not yet been updated to reflect 2010 dates and information. Since many of the details will be similar to the 2009 information below, we recommend that you use the information to get a general idea of the responsibilities and activities surrounding Commencement. Please check back for updated 2010 information as it becomes available.
Class Day is a student organized event for the baccalaureate degree candidates of Emory College, Goizueta Business School, and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Traditionally, the event is held on the Thursday before Commencement and features a student-selected keynote speaker as well as the presentation of class gifts, and awards. It precedes the Emory Senior Class Reception, Candlelight Crossover, and Dessert Reception.
Keynote speakers
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield built a store-front venture into a $300 million ice cream empire by harnessing the power of social responsibility and creative management. They met during junior high school and in 1977 reunited to fulfill their dream of running a food business. One year and a $5 Penn State correspondence course in ice cream making later, they opened their first Ben & Jerry’s homemade ice cream parlor in Burlington, Vermont. With their best-selling Ben & Jerry’s Double-Dip: Lead with Your Values and Make Money, Too, they created a nuts-and-bolts guidebook to the promise and pitfalls of “values-led” business, as well as an inspiring wake-up call about the growing international influence of the “socially conscious” or “mission-driven” corporation. Cohen and Greenfield realize the manufacturing of products creates waste, but they believe it is possible to be profitable and environmentally responsible. Ben & Jerry’s is a leader in researching and implementing sustainable dairy farming practices, new thermoacoustic refrigeration techniques, using alternate energy sources, waste reduction and recycling, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and it is a member of the Coalitionfor Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES).
Cohen and Greenfield have been recognized and honored with the Corporate Giving Award in 1988, U.S. Small Business Persons of the Year in 1988, James Beard Humanitarians of the Year, and the Peace Museum’s Community Peacemakers of the Year.
Awards presented during event
Boisfeuillet Jones Medals
Presented by Vice President John Ford and Laura Jones Hardman 67C
The Boisfeuillet Jones Medals were established, designed, and initially endowed by DVS Senior Society to honor this DVS alumnus, one of Emory’s most prominent and distinguished graduates. Representing what was special and unique about Jones, recipients are selected for their good citizenship, outstanding leadership, devoted service to Emory and the community, academic performance, and potential to become a “Change Agent” in their chosen profession and society at large.
Brit Katz Senior Appreciation Award
Presented by Tye Tavaras 09C and Frank Gaertner
Honored for his devotion to students and for serving as role model, leader, and friend, director of residence life R. Britton Katz was recognized at the first Class Day celebration in 2003. The Brit Katz Award, a wooden bowl, is presented to an administrator or staff member selected by seniors who has served as role model and friend to the senior class, who has participated in the Emory community beyond his or her professional duty, and who is deemed worthy of special recognition. The award is sponsored by the Ducemus Senior Society.
