Wofford College will conduct its 164th annual Commencement Exercises at 9:30 am Sunday, May 20th, on the lawn of Main Building.
Dr. Douglas E. Wood, a 1990 graduate and senior fellow on justice and equity at the Aspen Institute, will be the featured speaker.
Some 425 graduates will receive their degrees, and honorary degrees will be awarded to the Hon. Dennis W. Shedd, a 1975 Wofford graduate and judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District, and Michael LeFever, president and CEO of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. (Full biographies of the honorees are available in the Newsroom. Photographs are available on request.
The college also will present the prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan and Mary Mildred Sullivan Awards to two students and two non-students. The Roger Milliken Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Science and the Philip Covington Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Humanities and Social Sciences also will be presented to faculty members.
The Commencement Exercises will be live streamed at https://youtu.be/7n0CmK-CRHs.
Commencement activities will take place throughout the weekend, including a Baccalaureate Service at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 19, also on the lawn of Main Building.
(The rain location for both the Baccalaureate Service and Commencement Exercises will be Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.)
Here is the schedule for Commencement weekend:
Friday, May 18
Southern Guards Battalion ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
2 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
The Southern Guards Battalion will continue the time-honored tradition of commissioning its graduating cadets to the rank of second lieutenant in the United States Army, Army Reserve and National Guard. The featured speaker will be Maj. Gen. Robert E. Livingston Jr., adjutant general of the South Carolina National Guard. He serves as the head of the Military Department of South Carolina and administers the affairs of the state Army and Air National Guard, the Emergency Management Division, the State Guard and the Youth ChalleNGe Academy. Livingston began his military service in 1978, enlisting in the South Carolina Army National Guard. He completed the U.S. Army Infantry School that year, followed by Airborne School in 1979. He commanded Task Force 218 in support of Operation Noble Eagle from June 2004 to January 2005. He commanded Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix (VI) in Afghanistan from May 2007 to April 2008, with responsibility for training, mentoring and advising the Afghan National Security Forces. Later, he was director of strategic plans and policy (J5) in the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. His last assignment was as director of the J5 Coalition Coordination Center, U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, where he was responsible for facilitating the exchange between the command staff of the U.S. Central Command and military senior national representatives from more than 60 countries. He has served as the adjutant general of the state since 2011 and is the last elected adjutant general. Livingston is president, CEO and owner of Gregory Electric Co. Inc., headquartered in Columbia, S.C. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College and Georgia Tech, where he also received a master’s degree. He also received master’s degrees from the University of South Carolina and the U.S. Army War College. A reception will follow the commissioning ceremony in the Anna Todd Wofford Center in Andrews Field House.
Saturday, May 19
Baccalaureate Service
5 p.m., lawn of Main Building
This special service for graduating seniors and their families, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Ron Robinson, Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and professor of religion, will be followed by the President’s Reception at 6 p.m. on the lawn of the President’s Home, hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Nayef Samhat. (Rain location: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)
Sunday, May 20
Commencement Exercises
9:30 a.m., lawn of Main Building
Commencement Exercises will be held for Wofford’s Class of 2018. Members of the Class of 1968 will be honored guests. Honorary degrees, special recognitions and awards will be presented along with graduates’ diplomas. The featured speaker will be Dr. Douglas E. Wood, senior fellow on justice and equality at the Aspen Institute. (Rain location: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)
Lemonade on the Lawn
Front lawn of Roger Milliken Science Center and Burwell Building
Immediately following the Commencement Exercises
Lemonade and water will be available at this reception for families and friends to gather and congratulation their 2018 graduates. (Rain location: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)
Art exhibitions:
The Richardson Family Art Gallery and Richardson Family Art Museum in the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts will have special hours during Commencement Weekend. (The Richardson Family Art Gallery and Richardson Family Art Museum also will be open normal hours during Commencement Week, 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 1 to 9 p.m. Thursday.)
Commencement Weekend Hours:
Saturday, May 19 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 20 – 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Richardson Family Art Gallery
“My People: The 2018 Senior Capstone Exhibition” an exhibition of works from seven senior studio art minors in the Department of Art and Art History.
Richardson Family Art Gallery Lobby
“I’m just a translator,” an exhibition by Victoria Nwankudu, a rising senior international and Spanish major and Wofford’s 34th Presidential International Scholar.
Richardson Family Art Museum, lower level
“Julia Elizabeth Tolbert: Her Paintings through the Eyes of Woman,” an exhibition of paintings by South Carolina-born artist Julia Elizabeth Tolbert (1911-1978) featuring works that are reflective of what life was like for a female artist in the early 20th century. The exhibition was curated by Wofford senior Julie Woodson.
Richardson Family Art Museum, upper level
“The South Carolina Coastal Lithograph Project” by Jim Creal, who augments the original South Carolina Coastal Lithograph Project to include his documentary site/habitat photographs.