Greenville College Celebrates 119th Commencement Service

Published: April 13, 2021

"From here forward your life will be forever different because you chose to have Greenville College furnish your heart and mind with knowledge and values."

With these words, President Emeritus W. Richard Stephens began his address to the graduates at the Greenville College adult and undergraduate commencement ceremonies on May 21 and May 22, 2011. Stephens served as President of Greenville College from 1977 until 1993. In his address, he shared a brief history of the College and the formation of its "educational and spiritual DNA."

Noting that there are no courses such as "Alumni I or Alumni II," Stephens offered some instruction to the graduates on what it means to be a GC alumnus. First, it means that you never forget nor fail to treasure Jesus' expansive call to inclusiveness of others, especially those on the margins of opportunity. Second, it means that you take the values of Greenville College with you wherever you go in the future. Finally, he encouraged alumni to "lend a hand to Alma Mater to help insure that she will be there for coming generations, as previous generations made sure she was there for you."

Greenville College recognized 462 graduates during the commencement ceremonies this year. Of these graduates, 223 earned traditional undergraduate degrees, 112 earned degrees through the Organizational Leadership program, and 57 earned degrees through the Undergraduate Teaching Partnership (UTEP). Sixty-eight master's degrees were awarded through the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) and Master of Arts in Education (MAE) programs.

The transcript of President Emeritus W. Richard Stephens' speech is available here, if you'd like to learn more about the Greenville College story.

We're interested in your thoughts on what it means to be a Greenville College alumnus. You can share your comments by emailing alumni@greenville.edu or responding to our discussion on Facebook.