Judge Robert Henry To Address SOSU Graduates On May 13

Press Release Date: 04-06-2006

Judge Robert H. Henry of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit will deliver commencement remarks at Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, May 13.

Weather permitting, commencement will be held in one ceremony at 9 a.m. at Paul Laird Field. A reception honoring graduates and their families will be held in the Visual and Performing Arts Center from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

A native of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Judge Henry was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1994. He has served in all three branches of the government. From 1976 to 1986, he was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he chaired the Judiciary and Education Committees, as well as the Majority Caucus. He was elected in 1986 and later re–elected in 1990 without opposition to the office of Attorney General of Oklahoma. He has engaged in the private practice of law, and from 1991 to 1994, he taught and served as Dean and Professor of Law at the Oklahoma City University School of Law.

In 2005, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist appointed Judge Henry as Chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations. He previously served on the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct. Judge Henry currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Judicial Outreach Program of the American Society of International Law, the Board of Directors for the VERA Institute of Justice, and the Board of Advisors for the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia University. He is also a Life Member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, representing Oklahoma since 1982.

Judge Henry has received numerous human rights, humanitarian, and environmental awards in Oklahoma, and most recently was awarded the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.

In the event of inclement weather, commencement will be held in the Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.

Since seating is limited in the gymnasium, there will be two ceremonies by degrees:

In case of bad weather, the decision concerning the location for commencement will be made by noon on Friday, May 12, and aired over the local radio station and television stations, or you may call the Student Activity Line at 580–745–2888 or the Inclement Weather Line at 580–745–7272. You may also visit www.se.edu for weather updates.