Michigan State University will hold spring commencement ceremonies for 6,594 candidates for degrees Friday, May 8.

Both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies will be held at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center on the corner of Harrison Road and Kalamazoo Street.

MSU’s undergraduate convocation will be held at 1 p.m. Desmond Tutu, a 1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and South African anti-apartheid activist, will be the keynote speaker and receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. Tutu’s involvement in commencement exemplifies MSU’s strong relationship with Africa. For more information on MSU’s projects in Africa, visit the special report highlighting 50 years of academic leadership in the continent at special.news.msu.edu/africa.

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will also present MSU alumnus Wallace Jefferson, the first African American justice and chief justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, with an honorary doctor of laws degree.

There are 4,737 undergraduate degree candidates.

• College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 478
• College of Arts and Letters, 366
• The Eli Broad College of Business, 751
• College of Communication Arts and Sciences, 664
• College of Education, 267
• College of Engineering, 270
• James Madison College, 182
• Lyman Briggs College, 181
• College of Music, 50
• College of Natural Science, 574
• College of Nursing, 66
• College of Social Science, 879
• College of Veterinary Medicine, 9 

An additional 1,764 undergraduates will graduate after the summer semester but may walk in the spring ceremony.

Dan Rather, host of HDNet’s “Dan Rather Reports” and a former “CBS News” anchor and “60 Minutes” correspondent, will address candidates for advanced degrees at 7 p.m. He will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

There are 1,857 advanced degree candidates. An additional 463 graduate students will be eligible for their degrees after the summer semester but may walk in the spring ceremony.

The MSU College of Law will hold its commencement ceremony 2 p.m. Friday, May 15, at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Michael W. McConnell, circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit will be the keynote speaker.

For more information on MSU’s commencement, visit the Web at www.commencement.msu.edu.