Georgia Baptist colleges hold spring commencements

DULUTH — Students at the three Georgia Baptist colleges are joining others around the state this spring in graduation services.

Brewton-Parker College

Brewton-Parker College will hold graduation ceremonies in both Mount Vernon and Hinesville May 10. The college’s main campus ceremony in Mount Vernon will be held in Gillis Gymnasium inside the Snooks Student Activities Center beginning at 10 a.m. Doors will open at 9 a.m.

Brad Creed, provost and executive vice president of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., will be this year’s commencement speaker in Mount Vernon. Creed frequently speaks for churches, conferences, workshops, and groups.

Brewton-Parker’s External Programs commencement ceremony will be held at the First Baptist Church of Hinesville, 220 E. Washington Ave. The ceremony begins at 6 p.m.

Cindy L. Skaruppa, BPC’s vice president for Enrollment Services, will be the commencement speaker for the Hinesville ceremony. Skaruppa has previously served in an equivalent position at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, and was the provost of The American College of Switzerland in Leysin, Switzerland. She is also a senior associate consultant with Noel-Levitz.

Truett-McConnell College

In Cleveland, Truett-McConnell College will hold its 60th commencement services May 17 at 10 a.m. in the college gymnasium. Sixty-six students are expected to receive degrees, with 25 of them being bachelor’s degrees. TMC typically had been awarding six or seven bachelor degrees at graduation, said Dean of Advancement Support Edna Holcomb. The school was first given approval in 2002 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to move to become a four-year institution.

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, a native of Hall County, will be the commencement speaker and introduced by Terrell J. Williams, chairman of the TMC Board of Trustees.

Shorter College

Shorter College held commencement May 3 at the Winthrop-King Centre on its Rome campus. The speaker was English professor, researcher, and author Carmen Butcher.

Butcher, author of “Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader” as well as numerous poems and essays, has been Shorter’s scholar-in-residence and a faculty member since 2002.