Class of 2005 is largest in SFSU history, with 7,763 graduates

SAN FRANCISCO, May 6, 2005 -- A famed rock 'n' roll journalist and a popular clothing retailer will highlight San Francisco State University's 104th Commencement at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, May 28.

Author and journalist Ben Fong-Torres will be the keynote speaker. bebe inc. founder and chairman Manny Mashouf will be honored as the 2005 Alumnus of the Year.

Commencement will honor the 7,832 graduates in the Class of 2005 -- the largest in the University's history and representing 117 countries -- before an expected audience of about 20,000 people. The ceremony begins with the traditional procession of faculty and graduates in caps and gowns. SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan will preside. The ceremony will be broadcast live on San Francisco cable channel 27. There will also be a live Webcast on the SFSU home page, www.sfsu.edu, the day of Commencement.

For the past four decades, Fong-Torres has interviewed hundreds of world-famous musicians and actors for stories that have appeared in Rolling Stone and other magazines and newspapers. The 1966 SF State radio-television-film graduate has also been part of Bay Area radio with his programs on KSAN and KQED as well as appearances on local television stations. Today he continues to write and emcee community events.

Mashouf, a native of Iran, earned a bachelor's degree in political science from SF State in 1966. He founded bebe in 1976 as a small boutique on Polk Street in San Francisco. It has since grown into a successful chain of 206 stores featuring its own brands of women's clothing and accessories. Mashouf was inducted into the SFSU Alumni Hall of Fame in 2002.

For details on SFSU Commencement, visit: www.sfsu.edu/commencement.

One of the largest campuses in the California State University system, SFSU was founded in 1899 and today is a highly diverse, comprehensive, public, urban university.