Fortunately Commencement did not begin until 11:00 a.m. and we were able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast with our host. When we arrive on the beautiful Pravetz campus, it was already abuzz with activity. I briefly greeted the President of Bulgarian partner and her Rector and met the Commencement Speaker who is the head of Microsoft operations in Bulgaria.

The commencement was filled with speeches of congratulations and advice. One of the two student speakers confessed that he had to look up the definition of valedictorian and to learn what he was to say. He then forewarned his fellow students to ignore his advice for they knew as much as he did. I was a joyous occasion and a beautiful day.

Following the ceremony I had separate meetings with students, faculty, and alumni to hear of their experiences and to learn of their suggestions of how CityU could improve next year.

Students are eager for CityU to become better known throughout their country both by employers and by their fellow students studying at other Bulgarian universities. They are eager to have study abroad experiences and would like to more international faculty teaching in the program.

Faculty would like to see the length of term expanded to ten weeks and alumni agreed. Faculty also expressed interest in faculty exchanges in addition to student mobility. I was pleased to learn there was unanimous support to move entirely onto Blackboard and to host faculty orientations so they can become effective users. There was also support for strengthening quality assurances of student learning.

The day ended with a late dinner hosted by the manager of CityU's Pravetz campus. Tomorrow will be a full day meeting with our partner to reconcile expenses with the budget and to agree on plans for next year.

By all accounts this has been a successful year in Bulgaria and the prospects for next year are promising.

Following greetings and introductions, the Commencement speaker, Eva Mecova, the head of IBM services for central Europe, advises students that their ambitions and passions would best be fulfilled by courage, persistence, self-confidence combined with some humility and luck. The valedictorian, lcia Zitananska, quoted from the German philosopher, Goethe, who said "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." Lucia will be pursuing a master's degree this fall in London and hopes to earn a doctorate in the field.

We then proceeded to confer three sets of graduate and undergraduates degrees; those conferred by CityU only, those conferred by both CityU and our partner VSM, and those conferred by VSM only but taught in English.

Upon the official pronouncement of conferral and the symbolical movement of the mortar cap's tassel from right to left, the audience erupted in applause and mortar boards were ceremonially tossed into the air. The ceremony concluded with singing of the beautiful Slovakian national anthem.

That concluded the first of two commencements for the day. Following the first we adjourned to lounge area and enjoyed a light lunch with faculty.

The atmosphere for the afternoon commencement mirrored that of the morning, excited anticipation. Because the afternoon commencement was for VSM Gradates only, the ceremony was conducted in the Slovak language and the proceedings moved along swiftly. The speakers echoed the importance of persistence and gratitude.

Interestingly, the guest speaker was a successful CityU graduate who was among the very first graduates ten years ago. Today he is in charge of manufacturing selling, and servicing the world' largest provider of emergency equipment and supplies, a company headquartered in the U.S.A.

He told students that success was for him as much about being a good father and husband as it was about making a lot of money.

The Commencement concluded mid afternoon. I returned to the hotel to shower, pack, and travel to the airport to catch a flight to Bulgaria. We should arrive in Pravetz around midnight.

More to follow tomorrow as CityU holds it’s Commencement in Bulgaria.

The flight to Vienna was under two hours and much to our delight our luggage arrived with us. We were greeted by steady rainfall and cool temperatures both of which are to persist until the weekend. Seattle seems moderate by comparison.

After checking into our hotel located just blocks away from Stephansdom cathedral which is huge, lovely and centuries old, we took a short nap. Awakening in somewhat of a haze, we headed off on foot to find this century old traditional restaurant. We shared a table with a heart surgeon and his wife who was a nurse, and a couple from France. He was an economics faculty member she was in banking. Since the French couple spoke no English we conversed with them in Spanish and with Japanese couple in English.

Despite being in the company of a heart surgeon we all feasted on the traditional dish of wiener schnitzel and a sweet potato salad. The schnitzel was thin and larger than a small pizza. I am proud of myself for having eaten only half. Afterward we walked the spacious promenade and enjoyed a small pistachio gelato.

On our way back to the theater we stopped at the Vienna Concert hall where a live performance of Mozart's the Magic Flute was playing. To our amazement the performance was being video cast on an enormously large screen outside the hall for all passersby to enjoy. We watched and listened to several scenes while standing beneath an umbrella and said to ourselves, now this is what Vienna is all about.

We retired for the day. I am now up at 4:00 a.m. trying to calculate what time my body thinks it is. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be on Central European time. Guten tag!

All are welcomed, I share my advice on how graduates can contend with these extraordinary times. The Honorable Larry Campbell, member of the Canadian Parliament from British Columbia counsels them that "we are all placed on this earth not to make a living but to make difference." He is followed by the 2009 Student speaker, Natalie Fowler, who says she followed her heart and is committed to helping her elementary students enjoy their time in school and in life. Once the conferral of degrees is announced and the formal "torch of knowledge" is symbolically passed from faculty to graduates, the fun for me begins as I congratulate and shake hands with each and every one of the graduates as their names are announced and they cross the stage. The tenor Stephen Wall inspires us with the magnificent "serra notte." I closed the ceremony with one of my favorite quotes from Eugene Debbs who wrote, "If I could lead you into paradise, I would not. For if I could lead you in, someone else could lead you out." The stage party then exited in the recessional and formed an honor roll to applaud the 2009 graduates of CityU of Seattle.

The day is truly glorious both literally and figuratively. We adjourned to a nearby pavilion where hungry and thirsty family and friends deplete the punch bowls and sliced cake so quickly re dispatch Deans and Vice Presidents to the rear of the pavilion to replenish the supplies. Lots of flowers and hugs are exchanged and captured on film and we all leave the Commencement 2009 with our hearts filled to the brim with pride and joy. And now, it's on to Slovakia and Bulgaria.

On the eve of graduation I submit to City University of Seattle's governing Board the 30 page, single spaced list of approximately 1400 names of students who are eligible to graduate in the U.S. The Board officially approves the conferral of degrees and we adjourn and head to a pre-commencement/end of year dinner party in the 76 storied Columbia Towers in Seattle. After taking three separate elevators to get to the top of the towers members of the Commencement Stage party enjoy good food, great conversation, and a glorious panoramic view of the Puget Sound and a "to die for" sunset. We recognize three outstanding faculty members who are recipients of the 2009 President's Award of Excellence in Teaching. We toast our visitors from Slovakia, congratulate our student commencement speaker, Natalie, and I thank the Board of Governors and the Executive team for their leadership. What an awesome way to prepare for commencement.