GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Tusculum celebrated its first graduation ceremony as a university with nearly 300 students getting degrees.
Laurie Smith, a kindergarten teacher at Cedar Bluff Elementary School in Knoxville, was the valedictorian and received a Master of Arts in education with a curriculum and instruction concentration.
It is the second degree she has earned from Tusculum, the first being a Bachelor of Arts in education with a kindergarten through sixth grade concentration.
As she discussed securing a master’s degree in her 40s and the accomplishments of her classmates, Smith summarized their quest in one word — perseverance.
“Some of us are just beginning our next chapter while others of us are several chapter into the book of life,” Smith said. “We have different experiences and viewpoints depending on the stage we are in. What ties us all together is perseverance.”
Dr. James Hurley, Tusculum’s president, highlighted how this was the first graduation ceremony as a university, but he reminded the audience about Tusculum’s stature as Tennessee’s first institution of higher education, having been founded in 1794.
Tusculum awarded more than 130 bachelor’s degrees, about 160 master’s degrees and six associate’s degrees to local, national and international students.
Tusculum awarded emeritae degrees to two individuals. One is Dr. DiAnn Casteel, a retired education professor, who led the effort to change the Master of Arts in education program to fully online, where enrollment has steadily increased. The other is Dr. Melinda Dukes, who has been a model of the knowledge, values and character central to Tusculum’s civic arts mission.
Tusculum also presented Dr. Angela Keaton the Outstanding Service to Students Award and Dr. Paul Fox Jr. the Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award.
To learn more about the university, visit www.tusculum.edu.
