Fall Commencement set for Saturday, Dec. 17
Lacey Klotz |
Watch the ceremony live beginning at 2 p.m. CST at live.lipscomb.edu.
Over 400 graduates are expected to participate in Lipscomb University’s 2016 fall commencement, which is set for Saturday, Dec. 17. The ceremony will take place in Allen Arena at 2 p.m. A reception for all graduates and their families will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Activities Center.
On Friday, Dec. 16, undergraduates and their families are invited to a reception at 4:30 p.m. in the Burton Health Sciences Center and a baccalaureate ceremony at 5 p.m. in Collins Alumni Auditorium.
Friday’s baccalaureate and Saturday’s commencement ceremonies will be streamed live at lipscomb.edu/live.
During the ceremony, nearly 50 students will be celebrated for earning doctoral and education specialist degrees as well as over 200 students for earning master’s degrees and nearly 150 students for earning bachelor’s degrees. Among these graduates will also be the first four recipients of Lipscomb’s Master of Management/Doctor of Pharmacy dual degree.
Among the fall graduates are stories of perseverance, commitment and hard work, and for Erica Kesse, a 35-year-old single mother who is graduating with her second master’s degree from Lipscomb this weekend, it is also a story of heart.
Since having her daughter five years ago, Kesse says she has not let the negative stigma of single parenthood stand in her way of fulfilling her dreams of pursuing higher education.
Graduating from Belmont University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in professional business administration, Kesse enrolled in two Lipscomb University graduate programs in pursuit of a master’s degree in civic leadership and another in clinical mental health counseling. In December 2014, Kesse graduated with her first master’s degree in civic leadership, and this Saturday, will receive her master’s in clinical mental health counseling.
Kesse says she decided to pursue this route to use her passion for advocating for other single professional mothers.
“I am a single mother, and have personally dealt with the negative implications of single motherhood – yet have always put a priority on providing for my daughter and continuing my education,” said Kesse. “I decided to pursue two master’s degrees – the first in civic leadership to help me hone my efforts to create my own nonprofit and to learn more about the collaboration between the private, public and government sectors. The second degree in clinical mental health counseling has helped me learn more about people, their behaviors and what causes them to change. I have a desire to help people, and it starts with learning what they need, and counseling provides skills to give people a safe place to provide details so they can be helped in the proper way.”
As her thesis project for her civic leadership degree, Kesse started Thrive Alliance for Single Professional Mothers, an alliance to build solidarity and unity among single professional mothers, as well as create and implement methods to help single mothers who live below the poverty line.
“Thrive Alliance for Single Professional Mothers was created to encourage, enlighten and embrace single professional mothers through ongoing interactions,” said Kesse. “There has always been a lot of negativity around the topic, and my goal is to turn this project into a nonprofit that will eventually have its own chapter support groups where other single mothers can network and support one another.”
After graduation, Kesse plans to continue with Thrive Alliance for Single Professional Mothers by transitioning the support group into a full-time nonprofit organization that advocates for other single mothers throughout the U.S.
Paul Allen Shrum, a Nashville native who will graduate this weekend with a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Organizational Leadership, is another success story.
Shrum began his collegiate career at Lipscomb in the fall of 1996. While on campus, he played baseball for the Bisons and majored in business.
In the fall of 1998, he decided to put his education on hold in pursuit of a professional career in baseball. Shrum joined the Minnesota Twins in July 1998 and played as a catcher until July 2002, before signing a contract to play with the San Francisco Giants from July 2002 to May 2004.
In spring of 2016, Shrum returned to Lipscomb to complete his undergraduate degree through the College of Professional Studies that rewards real-life work experience as degree credits. In a one-day assessment through the CORE Assessment Center, Shrum earned 27 credits toward his degree. Throughout the next semester, Shrum successfully completed three CORE development courses, where he worked with a coach weekly to develop competencies that will assist him in his future career. Within one semester, Shrum was able to complete a degree he had started 20 years before.
“After fulfilling my dream of playing professional baseball, I was searching for what to do next,” said Shrum. “I had made a promise to my mom years ago to finish my degree, and knew I had to honor that. I also wanted to set a good example for my 11-year-old daughter, and they will both be there on Saturday to see me accomplish that goal.”
For more information regarding Lipscomb’s Fall Commencement ceremony, visit: www.lipscomb.edu/registrar/commencement.