Marshall University will honor nearly 1,200 graduates from July and August 2012, and students who are tentatively scheduled to graduate this month at the annual Winter Commencement Sunday, Dec. 16, at Cam Henderson Center on the Huntington campus. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m.
Among the 1,193 students who received or are about to receive degrees are 756 undergraduates and 433 with graduate degrees. About 400 students have indicated they plan to participate in the ceremony. They will receive congratulations from President Stephen J. Kopp and be presented with a scroll by their academic dean.
Registrar Roberta Ferguson said 191 students will graduate with honors. Twenty-four will graduate summa cum laude (3.85 to 4.0 GPA), 59 magna cum laude (3.6 to 3.84 GPA), and 99 cum laude (3.3 to 3.59 GPA).
One student receiving an associate degree will graduate with high honors, and eight associate degree recipients will graduate with honors.
Based on tentative grade point averages, three students will complete their baccalaureate degrees with perfect 4.0 GPAs. They are Kimberly Michelle Frazier of Cross Lanes, W.Va., Sarah Luliana Moawad of Winfield, W.Va., and Trevor Bartlett Stone of Huntington, W.Va.
Marshall began conducting a winter graduation ceremony in 2008 with a convocation at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center. The speaker was Dr. Montserrat Miller, a professor of history. Winter commencement began in 2009 and the tradition of having an MU professor deliver the keynote address continued.
Previous commencement speakers were Dr. Simon Perry, professor of political science, in 2009; Dr. Bonita Lawrence, professor of mathematics, in 2010; and Dr. Jamie Warner, professor of political science, in 2011.
This year’s speaker is Dan Hollis, an associate professor of journalism who recently was named the 2012 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching West Virginia Professor of the Year.
Hollis received the 2011 Marshall & Shirley Reynolds Outstanding Teacher Award at Marshall, and received the Pickens-Queen Excellence in Teaching Award in 2001. In addition, he has taken first place in six consecutive years, and seven of the past eight, in the News/Sports/Public Affairs category of the National Broadcasting Society and Alpha Rho Epsilon Professional Electronic Media Awards.
Hollis joined Marshall in the fall of 1999. He was born in southwestern Indiana and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Indiana in 1983. During college and after graduation, he worked at WFIE-TV in Evansville, Ind., as an award-winning photographer, producer and reporter. In 1989, he became a freelance videographer, often shooting recruiting videos for major colleges and universities.
In 1996, Hollis decided to return to school to pursue his true love: teaching. He received his master’s degree in communications from the University of Kentucky in 1997 and taught there two years before joining Marshall.
Marshall University will produce a DVD of the winter commencement ceremony that can be purchased for $20. Orders may be submitted using the DVD order form on the registrar’s office website (www.marshall.edu/registrar). Orders also will be accepted Dec. 16 at Henderson Center. The Marshall University Alumni Association will process the DVD orders.
Free parking for commencement will be available in the garage across 3rd Avenue from Cam Henderson Center, or on any university parking lot. The garage and the Joan C. Edwards Stadium West Lot provide the most convenient parking.
