Keuka College's Class of 2009 will receive degrees at the College's 101st commencement Sunday, May 24.

Undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the ceremony that begins at 12:30 p.m. on the Norton Chapel lawn (WeedPhysicalArtsCenter in case of inclement weather).

Peace advocate Charles Mendies will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Honorary degrees will also be presented to Walt Scott and Julia Lobotsky, a 1943 graduate of the College.

Mendies, respectfully referred to as the “fireman and bridge builder” by colleagues and friends, has facilitated peace and understanding in hot spots and troubled regions around the world for the past three decades. He has met with such diverse groups as the Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan, Sri Lankan Tigers outside Columbo, Maoists in the Himalayas, and Palestinians in Gaza.

Thanks to his devotion to peace, Mendies has fostered close relationships with Mother Teresa, Yasser Arafat, the Dahli Lama, Benazir Bhutto, King Hussein, and other past and present political, religious, social, and economic world leaders. Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister who was assassinated in 2007, was godmother to his grandson.

Although the world is his workplace and office, Mendies primarily resides in Nepal. He established the Sangam Institute—Nepal’s first think tank—that is dedicated to researching and mediating peaceful solutions to global challenges.

The title of Mendies’ talk is “Live Behind the Headlines.”

Scott was a member of the Keuka College Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2003 and 2004 to 2007 and is now an emeritus member of  the governing board.

In 2006, Scott became just the fifth person in Keuka annals to receive the Norton-Blyley Presidential Medallion, which bears the images of the two KeukaCollege presidents (Arthur Norton and Katherine Blyley) and recognizes service to the College “above and beyond an extraordinary high standard.”

Scott, who resides in Pittsford with his wife, Eleanor, assumed a leadership role in the Shaping the Future: Once Graduate at a Time campaign, helping it become the most prolific fund-raising drives in Keuka annals.

A longtime supporter of Keuka athletics, Scott is a founding member of Stormwatchers, the College’s sports booster club, and an original member of the advisory board.

Lobotsky has given back to her alma mater in myriad way, including serving as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1995 to 2004. She is now an emeritus member of the board.

In 1993, she received the Keuka College Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award for her stellar work in science, including research and administration in reproductive biology and endocrinology at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Her philanthropy toward Keuka is impressive, and includes the Julia Lobotsky Scholarship, Shaping the Future: One Graduate at a Time campaign, and The Campaign to Save Ball Hall.

She resides in Silver Spring, Md.

Other commencement highlights include talks by Class of 2009 members Garrett Zur and Dorothy Jo O’Neill-Marble and the presentation of the Professor of the Year Award.

Commencement day activities at Keuka will kick off with the baccalaureate service at 9:30 a.m. in Norton Chapel. The Rev. W. James Gerling, pastor of The Presbyterian Church in Geneva, will be the speaker.

Gerling is a community advocate who “is absolutely everywhere in our community, addressing social action and social justice issues on a wide range of levels,” according to the executive director of a local service agency. He is a member and past chairman of the Finger Lakes Health Foundation Board, chair of the Finger Lakes Health Housing Board, president of Success for Geneva’s Children, and member of the ARC of Ontario County board.

Gerling co-chaired a capital campaign for the Boys and Girls Club of Geneva that realized more than $4 million for a new community center. He is co-founder of Miracle in the Park, a triathlon event that raised more than $200,000 to combat hunger in the community.