NEW ORLEANS, La. — Tulane University awarded degrees this month to approximately 2,300 graduates. Brett W. Chalke of Auburn graduated from the Tulane University School of Law with a juris doctor degree.

Tulane’s Unified Commencement was held on May 12. The ceremony featured keynote speaker Thomas Friedman and honorary degree recipients Cokie Roberts, Stevie Wonder and Nobel Laureate Walter Gilbert.

The ceremony included all the pomp and circumstance of a traditional commencement but with a New Orleans twist, including bagpipes, herald trumpets and a second-line jazz procession. Music was provided by Dr. Michael White’s Original Liberty Jazz Band and jazz singer Topsy Chapman with impromptu performances by Stevie Wonder, including a Tulane-centric rendition of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.”