RICHMOND —
Spring Commencement ceremonies at Eastern Kentucky University on Saturday will recognize 2,124 degree candidates, including the first from the University’s inaugural doctoral degree program (see related story).
Because the university no longer conducts summer commencement, this year’s Spring Commencement will feature three separate ceremonies. The first ceremony, at 9:30 a.m., will recognize degree candidates in the Colleges of Business & Technology and Education. The second ceremony, at 1:30 p.m., will recognize degree candidates in the Colleges of Health Sciences and Justice & Safety. The day’s final ceremony, at 5 p.m., will honor candidates in the College of Arts & Sciences. All ceremonies are in Alumni Coliseum.
Each of the keynote speakers is a member of the EKU Foundation Board of Directors, and two are members of the University’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
The keynote speaker in the 9:30 ceremony will be Bill Clements of Henderson, senior vice president and branch manager with Hilliard Lyons and a member of EKU’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni. The 1968 Eastern graduate serves as secretary/treasurer of the EKU Foundation Board of Directors and chairs the Finance Committee. He and wife Cindy established an endowment to provide scholarship support for students from the Henderson community studying in Eastern’s College of Business and Technology.
The keynote speaker for the 1:30 ceremony will be Tom Coffey of Nashville, a Somerset native who serves on the Executive and Finance Committees of the Foundation Board and is a member of the University’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni. Coffey, who graduated from Eastern in 1965, is the retired president and CEO of Lincoln National Life Midsouth Corporation and continues to be very active in the insurance and financial services fields. A former president of the University’s International Alumni Association, he also established EKU’s first endowed professorship.
Jane Boyer of Prospect, a former member of the University’s Board of Regents who serves on the Executive Committee of the Foundation Board, will serve as keynote speaker for the 5 p.m. ceremony. A past recipient of the EKU’s Presidential Award of Merit, Boyer has been a strong supporter of many Eastern programs, including the Honors Program, Friends of the Library and Friends of the Fine Arts, as well as Colonel athletics.
All three speakers will receive honorary doctor of humanities degrees.
In all, 1,526 bachelor’s degree candidates will be recognized, plus 457 master’s degree candidates, 134 associate degree candidates, six specialist degree candidates and the one doctoral degree candidate from the College of Education.
Student speakers will be Mary Jennings of Beattyville, 9:30 a.m. ceremony; Tejon Washington of Bartow, Fla., 1:30 p.m. ceremony; and Jessica Slaton of Richmond, 5 p.m. ceremony.
College receptions for the respective graduates and their families will be hosted in the Fred Darling Gymnasium in Alumni Coliseum immediately after each ceremony.
The public is welcome to attend any of the ceremonies.
EKU News
Commencement to recognize 2,124 EKU degree candidates
- EKU News
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Spring fling
Morgan Jolly, Miss Kentucky Teen 2011, and an Eastern Kentucky University freshman education major from Versailles, prepares to pop bubbles Monday with Sanjay Blevins, a special education student at Model Laboratory School. Jolly and about 19 others who reside in EKU’s education majors’ Living and Learning Community and 14 Model special-ed students enjoyed an hour of fun at the college students’ invitation. Such events outside of their school setting helps special-needs children developmentally, said Jolly, who planned the event with roommate Amanda Hubler.
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California Schemin’
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The public can view the student’s work from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday inside Alumni Coliseum on EKU’s campus. The awards ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. in Brock Auditorium in the Coates Building. -
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Environmental ‘Hero’ to speak at EKU
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Her presentation titled “Avoiding Extinction” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Student Success Building. It is part of the University’s year-long Chautauqua lecture series and serves as the sixth-annual Distinguished Lecture in International Studies and keynote address for Women’s History Month. The event is free and open to the public. - More EKU News Headlines
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EKU professor authors ‘Great Civil War Stories of Kentucky’






