May commencement celebrates the academic accomplishments of over 950 graduates

Commencement season is a time the Lipscomb community celebrates the academic achievements of its graduates through a series of ceremonies and events.

Office of Public Relations & Communications  |  05/08/2025

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Degrees were conferred to over 950 students marking the completion of their academic journey across two ceremonies on Saturday, May 3 in front of family, friends, faculty and staff in a packed Allen Arena.

The day began with a morning ceremony to celebrate the academic accomplishments of graduate students with the awarding of doctoral, specialist and master’s degrees. The ceremony marked milestones for several programs as students were awarded Master of Science degrees in pharmaceutical sciences and in sport analytics for the first time. In addition, the first cohort of students from Lipscomb University’s IMPACT Initiative School Counseling Program graduated with Master of Education degrees ready to step into critical roles as licensed school counselors in districts across Middle Tennessee.

Scott Bledsoe, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, presented graduates with a professional charge.

“Today you will have conferred upon you a degree that comes with ‘all of the rights and privileges pertaining thereto.’ That is something interesting to think about, because what rights and privileges come along with that piece of paper that you will receive today?,” asked Bledsoe, whose wife, Madison, was among the graduates receiving Master of Education degrees during the ceremony. “Sure this degree might offer you the privilege of promotion or a pay raise through your career. Those benefits are certainly welcome and appreciated. But I think there is a deeper meaning to the ‘rights and privileges.’ By walking across this stage today you are demonstrating to everyone that you went in search of greater knowledge, took a vested interest in better understanding your academic discipline and that your pursuit was successful.”

“But your quest for knowledge does not stop with the conferring of your degree here today. In fact, this is where it actually begins,” he continued. “Hopefully we have propelled you forward to a lifetime of learning and scholarship. This is the transformative not the transaction power of higher education that you use this strategy, degree that you earned in the knowledge that you have acquired to transform your own life, as well as the lives of those around you.”

In her charge to students, Lipscomb President Candice McQueen noted that while a little over one-third of the U.S. population earns college degrees only about 14% has earned a master’s degree or higher and of that only about 1-2% receive a doctorate degree.

“So each one of you here today are among a very select group who have completed an advanced degree,” said McQueen. “As a graduate of an advanced degree program, you are not only empowered but you are expected to take on the leadership of your community, whether that’s your business, your team, your classroom or your family. I want to encourage you to continue to embody the characteristics of true leaders after you leave here. As a Lipscomb graduate, you are not just any leader, but a leader of the highest calling: a servant leader.”

“Today, as a Lipscomb graduate, we know you have been equipped to be a servant leader, but it is now your full responsibility to carry this forward,” she said. “We expect you to lead with integrity and character, display a hard work ethic and most importantly, show the world that leadership is always about them, not you. Take the education you’ve earned and use it to give back to others: to build your communities, to strengthen your families and to inspire change.”  

During the afternoon undergraduate ceremony, bachelor’s degrees were conferred. Brandi Kellett, associate professor and chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages, gave a charge of behalf of the faculty to the graduates. Calling graduates to a life of connection and meaning, Kellett used the metaphor of a wobbly, joy-filled tandem bike journey to challenge students to take their accomplishments seriously while still chasing joy and community along the way.

“You are going places, and you will change the world — or at least your city or street or church or family or neighborhood,” said Kellett. “You have taken this one beautiful life seriously, and you have made smart decisions along the way. Some of you have made costly choices to pursue or even to come back and finish this degree. You have remarkable discipline, and today we salute you. But being accomplished, driven and smart, and taking your life and calling seriously, does not mean you stop chasing wonder and joy with friends who make you forget time.”

“Every once in a while, I charge you to go out into this world, a highly accomplished scholar, and to find your version of the tandem bike,” she continued. “Then discover and hold on to people who make you grateful to be alive. Work hard but laugh harder. Chase the promotion and chase wonder as well. Find answers, but hold on to all of you do not know so that mystery and curiosity become very good friends. … Find the communities, the issues, the hurt, the people that you claim, and then help them get better.”

In her president’s charge to undergraduate students, McQueen urged graduates to embrace life’s inevitable moments of chaos with intentional practices of restoration, rooted in faith and community.

Drawing inspiration from a sign in the Milwaukee airport marking a “Recombobulation Area” outside the security screening area, McQueen shared how the concept struck her during a recent trip for Lipscomb’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament appearance.

“Don’t we all need more recombobulation areas in our lives?” she asked, reflecting on the importance of taking time to regroup after the disruptions life inevitably brings. “The beauty of life, though, and the beauty of God’s design, is that we do have recombobulation areas. My charge to you today is to take advantage of all those recombobulation areas that you can because you're going to need them as you travel through life.”

In her address, McQueen noted three “recombobulation areas” for students to lean into. The first is knowing your people. “I personally like traveling with other people, particularly my family, more than I like traveling alone. For example, I love when my husband helps me with my suitcase … he watches it for me, helps me put it in the overhead bin and adds things to his when mine is too heavy,” she explained. “This is just like life. Traveling with others is better than traveling alone. So I ask you, who is helping you with your suitcase? These are the people who you need to stay connected with. They sit with you. They reflect with you. They carry your heavy burdens. They help you regroup. They help you recharge, and hopefully, they help you with life.”

McQueen also underscored the importance of finding and returning to meaningful places, whether spiritual, natural or simply personal, as sources of grounding and peace. “Know the places that give you life,” she encouraged. “Place helps us establish identity and a sense of self, and can ultimately provide us inner peace. This is why having a church home, or having a place of spiritual renewal, or having a favorite place in your house where you can sit and regroup, or a favorite hiking trip or a favorite place to go on vacation is so important. Place matters. It helps you recalibrate on what is most important. Know the places that give you life and orient you back to what is most important.”

Finally, she called on graduates to center their lives on prayer. “Use prayer to connect with God, to fully recombobulate. There’s nothing more powerful than prayer,” she said. “If someone was to ask me today, what was the most important advice I could give him, it would be this. James says, ‘Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.’ Prayer draws you closer to your center, to your source of life, to your source of hope, your source of love and strength.”

“It is the ultimate way in this life that we can recombobulate. In this life, there is going to be heartache. They're going to be failures. There's going to be disappointments, and unfortunately for some of us, there will be tragedy,” she continued. “But God is faithful and his mercies are new every morning, we can consistently and without fail, go to our Father in prayer to get those new mercies. Every day, it is the ultimate recombobulation.”

Commencement culminated several days of ceremonies and events honoring the May Class of 2025 graduates. These included the IDEAL graduation ceremony, a dinner to recognize student veteran graduates, the traditional nursing pinning ceremony, a Baccalaureate service for undergraduate students, the College of Pharmacy recognition ceremony, a College of Business master’s degree hooding ceremony, a provost’s brunch and various other college celebrations.