The Classes of 2016, Day and Evening, Soared into Clear Blue Skies at Commencement 2016
Traditional Day Commencement Exercises
- The 2016 Commencement Address, “Graduation Day: Ready or Not, Here We Come!” was delivered by Dr. Betsy O. Barefoot, senior scholar, the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, Brevard, North Carolina who was presented with the Presidential Medallion prior to speaking.
- Dr. Barefoot and her husband, special guest Dr. John N. Gardner, were each presented with Presidential Medallions by President J. Cameron West.
- The Graduate Address was delivered by Michaela Tillery ’16, English, Dothan, Alabama.
- The Margaret Read Scholarship Medal, presented to the 2016 graduate(s) who earned perfect 4.0 grade point averages, was presented to Abigail Bellman, Anna DeMedicis, Carlie Dunn, Jeremiah Stone, and Stephanie Yasechko.
- The Loyalty Award, voted upon by members of the senior class, was presented to Alicia Gauker ’16.
- The Willard D. Top Award, given annually to a graduating senior who exemplifies outstanding commitment to academics and service to Huntingdon College, was presented to Stephanie Yasechko ’16.
- Dr. Tom Perrin, assistant professor of English, was recognized with the Winn and Gordon Chappell Academic Enrichment Award, voted upon by faculty.
- Mr. James DeLoach, visiting associate professor of business, was honored with the Julia Lightfoot Sellers Award for Excellence in Teaching. The annual award is voted upon by members of the senior and junior classes as “that member of the teaching faculty who, in their judgment, has done much this year toward inspiring them to nobility of purpose and rekindling within them a deeper desire for learning.”
Evening Bachelor’s Degree Program Commencement Exercises
- The first ever Graduate Address for an Evening Studies Commencement was delivered by Ms. Yolanda Collins-Taylor ’16
- The 2016 Evening Studies Commencement Address, “I Think I Can. I Think I Can. — Defying the Odds with the Power of Positive Thinking,” was delivered by Dr. Glenda Colagross, interim president, Southern Union State Community College.
