More than 4,000 set to graduate; ex-governor Hull to be honored

<p>More than 4,000 ASU students will have a special reason to celebrate over the holidays, as they will receive their degrees at ASU's commencement Dec. 14. The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. in Wells Fargo Arena.</p><separator></separator><p align="left"><img src="http://asu.edu/news/stories/200612/200612_images/20061211_janehull.jpg&…; alt="Jane Dee Hull" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="144" height="180" align="right">Jane Dee Hull, the first woman elected governor in Arizona, and a leader in advancing the issues of education and children's health care, will receive an honorary degree. Hull served in the Arizona House of Representatives for 14 years and was elected Secretary of State in 1994. She succeeded to the governorship in 1997 following the governor's resignation and was elected to the office in 1999.</p><separator></separator><p align="left">Hull was a former educator on the Navajo Nation, and as governor she helped create the Students FIRST program to ensure funding equity for school facilities throughout the state. Under her leadership, the KidsCare program provided health care coverage for more than 130,000 children of the working poor, and Arizona became one of the first states in the nation to provide Internet access to all of its public schools.</p><separator></separator><p align="left">Two students will receive the Moeur Award from the ASU Alumni Association for graduating with 4.0 grade-point averages, with all their coursework taken at ASU. They are Andrew Storey, a sociology major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Brett Rufer, an economics major in the W. P. Carey School of Business.</p><separator></separator><p align="left"><img src="http://asu.edu/news/stories/200612/images/20061211_grad.jpg&quot; alt="graduate" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="300" height="200" align="left">Also attending the ceremony will be 100 eighth-graders from Magnet Traditional School in Phoenix and Phoenix Preparatory Academy. Their visit is part of the Access ASU program, an initiative to raise the educational expectations of Arizona high school students and increase the number of those who enroll at ASU. For many it will be their first exposure to ASU – and the excitement of a graduation ceremony as well.</p><separator></separator><p align="left">Individual colleges and cultural groups will hold smaller convocation ceremonies Dec. 13-16 at the Tempe, Downtown Phoenix and West campuses. For a convocation schedule and more information on fall commencement activities, visit the Web site (<a href="http://asu.edu/news/stories/200612/www.asu.edu/graduation/fall/index.ht…;).</p><separator></separator><p align="left">The fall commencement ceremony will be broadcast live on the Web, at (<a href="http://is.asu.edu/live">http://is.asu.edu/live</a&gt;).</p>