Jones plans to retire from the presidency at the end of the 1997-98 academic year to return to the classroom to teach and to his yellow legal pad to write. Graduation ceremonies kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Admission is by ticket only.
Leading this year's graduation march will be four student marshals who have the highest grade point average in the class. Also on Saturday, the college will honor First National Bank of Durango President John Marvel with the 1998 Fort Lewis College Distinguished Service Award for his commitment to Fort Lewis and the Southwest Colorado community. The college also will recognize Anthropology Professor W. James Judge as this year's Alice Admire Outstanding Teaching award winner and School of Education Program Assistant B.J. Pierce, winner of the 1998 Outstanding Staff award. Jones, who joined Fort Lewis as its fifth president in 1988, also will be this year's commencement speaker at the request of the Senior Class, an honor that has become somewhat of a tradition at Fort Lewis. For the past five spring commencement ceremonies, senior class members have invited retiring faculty to be their keynote speaker.