The largest graduating class in the University of South Carolina’s history will participate in spring commencement ceremonies in Columbia on Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6.
At 3 p.m. Friday (May 5) at the Colonial Life Arena, 2,291 graduates of the College of Pharmacy, Darla Moore School of Business, College of Nursing and Arnold School of Public Health will be joined by honorary degree recipient Frances Scott, a retired nurse and founder of Raising Up the Lowcountry, a non-profit organization based in Charleston dedicated to assisting single mothers. Scott will receive a Doctor of Public Service degree.
A 9:30 a.m. ceremony on Saturday (May 6) at the Colonial Life Arena will include 1,953 graduates of the South Carolina Honors College, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Information and Communications. Renowned physician and Columbia native Edward Sawyer Cooper will receive an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree at the ceremony.
The final ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday (May 6) at the Colonial Life Arena for 1,742 graduates of the College of Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, College of Engineering and Computing, College of Social Work, College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management, School of Music and Palmetto College. Barbara Hickman Whye, a USC alumna and a current executive at Apple Corporation, and Barbara E. Ruskino, a retired executive at Bechtel Corporation, will each receive an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree.
USC President Michael Amiridis will deliver an address at all three ceremonies at the Colonial Life Arena.
Other Columbia campus activities include:
- The School of Law commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. Friday (May 5) at the historic Horseshoe. USC alum and U.S. Court of Appeals judge Arthur Melvin Quattlebaum Jr. will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
- The commencement ceremony for both Schools of Medicine at noon Friday (May 5) at the Koger Center. Former USC School of Medicine professor and higher education administrator Marcia G. Welsh will receive an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree.
- The doctoral hooding ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday (May 6) at the Koger Center.
For more information, visit USC’s commencement site.