For Immediate Release Contact: Barbara K. Laskin
April 19, 2004 Doug Stone
(651) 696-6203

Federal Judge David Tatel and Choral Director Dale Warland to Receive Honorary Degrees -
Daniel Ungier is Student Speaker at
Macalester's 115th Commencement - Saturday, May 15, 2004

St. Paul, Minn. - Judge David S. Tatel, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, will be the keynote speaker at Macalester's 115th commencement at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15.

Tatel was named to the appeals court in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton, who said he had made a "lifelong commitment to protecting and preserving the rights of all Americans."

Tatel will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at commencement.

The other honorary degree recipient will be Dale Warland, who will receive a doctor of fine arts. Warland is the founder and music director of the Dale Warland Singers, considered one of the best a cappella choirs in the world. Both Tatel and Warland are parents of Macalester graduates.

"I am pleased to have two such outstanding honorary degree recipients who exemplify Macalester's values," said President Brian Rosenberg. "Judge Tatel will be an inspiring speaker for our seniors. He has spent his career working to advance the civil rights of his fellow citizens. Dale Warland has spent a lifetime educating, entertaining and bringing people together with his music."

A graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago Law School, Tatel began his career in the late 1960s as director of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law. In 1972, he became the organization's national director, leading a program to advance the rights of minorities and the poor through litigation involving housing, voting rights and employment.

Tatel continued his civil rights work at the Washington, D.C., firm of Hogan & Harston, which he joined in 1974. He helped establish the Legal Services Corporation, which has provided legal assistance to millions of underrepresented people. He also served as director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1977 to 1979. Tatel later returned to the law firm, where he focused on education issues, representing school systems and universities around the country in the areas of desegregation, free speech and scientific research.

Lloyd Cutler, former White House Counsel to Presidents Clinton and Jimmy Carter, said Tatel is a "remarkably good lawyer with a fine judicial temperament."

In addition to heading the choral group, Warland is also a composer, conductor and educator and was a music professor and director of choral activities at Macalester for 18 years, from 1967-1985. He has won numerous awards for his work including the prestigious Chorus America Michael Korn Founder's Award, the highest honor for a choral conductor in the country. He has been a guest conductor throughout the world from Utah to Chicago to Israel to Sweden to Estonia to Korea.

The student speaker is Daniel Ungier '04 from Corvallis, Oregon. He is a environmental studies and international studies major. He is co-chair of the Macalester Urban Lands and Community Health (MULCH) and is a member of E-Funk, Macalester Jewish Organization, MacGreens and the Council for Religious Understanding. He has also served as a member of a number of campus committees including the Facilities Task Force, the Environmental Studies Program Planning Committee and the Campus Environmental Issues Committee and was a Community Service Office student leader.

Commencement ceremonies will include an academic procession led by the Macalester Pipe Band, flag bearers representing 43 countries of the 79 graduating international seniors plus the U.S. and U.N. flags, faculty in academic robes and 430 seniors.

Some notes on the senior class: One member was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. Another one was awarded a Watson Fellowship. Fourteen percent completed honors projects. Eighty-one percent engaged in community service, donating more than 34,000 hours. Fifty-four percent studied abroad. Forty percent had internships. More than 10 percent participated in varsity athletics.

Macalester is a private liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,810 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, diversity and service to society.