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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 9, 2005 -  Contact: Sandra Faux or Joseph Giomboni King’s College Public Relations Office, (570) 208-5958.

KING'S WILL CONFER

3 HONORARY DEGREES

AT COMMENCEMENT

May 9, 2005, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. – Rev. Thomas J. O’Hara, C.S.C., president of King’s College, will confer honorary degrees on The Hon. R. James Nicholson, U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs, and former Ambassador to the Holy See; Sister Linda-Susan Beard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English at Bryn Mawr College; and Virginia C. Welles, civic leader and patron of the arts, at the King’s College Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 22.

Secretary for Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson, the featured Commencement speaker, was sworn in on Feb. 1, 2005 to head U.S. government’s second largest Cabinet department with 230,000 employees and a current budget of $69 billion to serve America’s veterans. Prior to his Cabinet appointment, Secretary Nicholson was U.S. diplomatic representative at the Vatican from 2001 through 2004. A strong advocate of human rights, Ambassador Nicholson was knighted in October 2003 by Pope John Paul II .

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a Vietnam veteran for which he earned a number of decorations, Secretary Nicholson retired after 22 years in the Army Reserve with the rank of colonel.

Sr. Linda-Susan Beard, Ph.D., is a highly regarded scholar and educator. Currently Associate Professor of English at Bryn Mawr College, she has particular academic interest and expertise in African American and African literatures, women’s studies, and spirituality, and has written and lectured widely on these topics. An educator in the Catholic tradition, Sr. Linda-Susan has served on a number of committees and panels that explore and address the role of Christianity in dealing with social injustice, racism and war.

Virginia Welles is a longtime resident of the Wyoming Valley. She is an avid supporter of the fine and performing arts. She has been a valued patron to local choral and theatrical organizations and is a director of the Osterhout Free Library. A longtime friend of King’s College, she is a King’s College Presidential Scholarship honoree, a member of the President’s Society, and member emeritus of the President’s Council. The Welles Collection of 2,000 books, 120 paintings and 480 recordings comprises a significant archival holding of the D. Leonard Corgan Library at King’s College.

King’s College Commencement is May 22 at 2 p.m. at the Wachovia Arena. Related events that weekend are the 2004 ROTC Commissioning Ceremony on Saturday, May 21, at 2 p.m. in the Burke Auditorium of The William G. McGowan School of Business at King’s and the Baccalaureate Mass for graduates at 4 p.m. at King’s Scandlon Physical Education Center.

King’s College is a Catholic college sponsored by the Congregation of Holy Cross