More than 4,000 members of the KU Class of 2006 are expected to make the traditional walk down Campanile Hill during KU's 134th commencement exercises May 21.

The graduates will make the long-awaited march down Mount Oread and into Memorial Stadium at 2:30 p.m. Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway will offer remarks and confer degrees beginning at about 3:30 p.m. Graduates will assemble along Memorial Drive at 2 p.m.

About 7,000 students are candidates for degrees. The class includes about 4,255 candidates for degrees in the spring, more than 1,600 who graduated at the end of the fall 2005 semester and more than 1,165 who completed coursework over summer 2005.

An April 23 hail storm damaged the stadium videoboard so there will be no video presentation in the stadium this year as parts needed for repairs will not be available in time. However, the commencement ceremony will be shown live in Woodruff Auditorium on the fifth level of the Kansas Union. The broadcast is provided specifically for people for whom the physical conditions in Memorial Stadium would be a barrier to their attendance at commencement. The ceremony also will be broadcast on campus television station KUJH TV-14 (Channel 31 on LawrenceÕs Sunflower Cable). Unlike previous years, a videotape of commencement will not be available for sale.

Commencement information and an up-to-date schedule of events are available online at www.commencement.ku.edu. KU Info is available at 864-3506 or e-mail kuinfo@ku.edu. KU InfoÕs walk-up information window on the fourth level of the Kansas Union will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 20 and 21. The KU Visitor Center will be open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 20 and 21.

If it rains, an announcement will be made at 1 p.m. about a postponed ceremony. Announcements will be made through KU Info and local radio stations, as well as Sunflower Cable Channel 6.

The first attempt to hold a postponed ceremony will be at 4:30 p.m. Graduates will assemble on Memorial Drive at 4 p.m. If the weather does not clear in time, a second attempt will be made at 6:30 p.m. Graduates will assemble on Memorial Drive at 6 p.m.

If it is still raining, the ceremony will be postponed until 9 a.m. May 22 Graduates will assemble at 8:30 a.m. on Memorial Drive for a 9 a.m. procession.