LAKELAND, Fla., May 3, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Florida Southern
College will host its Spring 2024 Commencement exercise
starting at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, 2023, at the RP
Funding Center in Lakeland. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m.. This is the 140th Commencement
exercise for the College and welcomes the largest graduating class
in the history of the College.
The keynote speaker for this year's ceremony will be Dr.
Ed Crenshaw, Chairman Emeritus,
Publix Super Markets, Inc. and Trustee of Florida Southern College. Dr. Crenshaw holds an
Honorary Doctorate of Business from Florida
Southern College and serves as the chairman of the
Florida Southern College Barnett
Business School Advisory Board. Ed joined Publix Super Markets
in 1974 as a stock clerk in Lake Wales,
Florida and worked in various retail roles, including being
a store manager. His corporate experience included working in the
purchasing function. He served as President from 1996-2008,
CEO from 2008-2016, and Chairman of the Board from
2016-2023.
The largest graduating class in Florida
Southern history, 551 students will be awarded their degrees
(470 undergraduate and 81 graduate students) including 279 from the
School of Arts and Sciences, 105 from the Barney Barnett School of
Business and Free Enterprise, 72 from the Ann Blanton Edwards
School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and 14 from the School of
Education. 274 students are graduating with honors: 88 cum
laude, 86 magna cum laude; and 100 summa cum laude.
Students in this class will join recent graduates accepted to
law, medical, dental, and veterinary schools, and distinguished
graduate programs. These graduates also have attained prestigious
positions as managers in Fortune 500 companies, as caregivers in
hospitals, as teachers in our schools, as members of our nation's
armed services, as actors and musicians on stages, and as clergy in
ministries around the world.
The senior speaker will be Mr. Colton Dawson, Business Administration major
with a minor in Integrated Marketing Communications. During the
ceremony, Florida Southern will present the President's
Scholar Medal for superb academic achievement, which is not
revealed before Commencement. The Miller Award, Omicron Delta Kappa
Outstanding Teacher Award, and the Ruthven Outstanding Leadership
Award will also be presented during the ceremony.
This will mark Dr. Anne B. Kerr's
final Commencement as President of Florida
Southern College after announcing her retirement earlier
this year. Dr. Robert L. Fryer, Jr.
'70, Chairman of the Florida Southern
College Board of Trustees, is pleased to announce the
appointment of Dr. Anne B. Kerr as
President Emerita, upon the announcement of her retirement. The
17th President of Florida Southern,
Kerr has served for 20 years transforming the College academically
and physically, achieving a trajectory that has brought national
recognition for excellence in academic programs, engaged learning,
NCAA Division II athletics, and preservation and stewardship of the
world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.
About Florida Southern
College
Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private
college in the state. The College maintains its commitment to
academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and
distinctive graduate programs in business administration,
education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty
ratio, is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning, and
boasts 30 NCAA Division II National Championships. Florida Southern is ranked at #8 among the "Best
Regional Universities in the South" by U.S. News & World Report
in its 2022 "Best Colleges" guide and is included in The Princeton
Review's 2023 Best 388 Colleges guide and the "Fiske Guide to
Colleges 2023." The 2022-2023 Colleges of Distinction guidebook
praises Florida Southern's AACSB
accredited Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise
alongside the College's School of Education and its Ann Blanton
Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Poets&Quants,
U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, and The Princeton Review
further laud the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free
Enterprise and the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health
Sciences as foremost programs in the nation for business and
nursing education. Home to the world's largest single-site
collection of Frank Lloyd Wright
architecture, FSC has appeared on The Princeton Review's top 20
"Most Beautiful Campus" national listing for 13 consecutive
years. Connect with Florida
Southern College.
www.FLSouthern.edu
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SOURCE Florida Southern College