Commencement Information for Jackson Campus
Jackson Fall Commencement Exercises - December 17, 2011
Congratulations upon your anticipated graduation from Belhaven University. We are providing information for students and families as you prepare for commencement services. Download Letter from the Registrar for information on appropriate dress, arrival time, line-up and processional, diploma march, diploma pick up Information.
Commencement
Commencement Exercises will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. at Thalia Mara Hall, 255 East Pascagoula Street, Jackson, Mississippi.
Lineup and Processional
Graduates will be lined up alphabetically and by degree. Graduates receiving Masters Degrees will be lined up together followed by the Bachelors, and then Associates. Graduates will receive their walking cards and honor cords, if applicable, at this time.
Graduates will proceed down the appropriate aisle in a single file line. Please remain in your assigned place in the line. When filing into the rows please stand in front of your seat to be sure you have a seat when instructed to sit down.
Remain standing for the invocation. Men should remove their caps for the invocation and put them back on for the remainder of the ceremony until the benediction. Following invocation all Graduates will be seated. Programs will be under each seat.
Appropriate Dress for Graduation and Arrival Time and Place
Graduates are to be in the large room located on the bottom floor of Thalia Mara dressed in regalia no later than 8:15 a.m. for instructions and lineup. Graduates access this room from the bottom entrance doors. This area is reserved for graduates only. Commencement is a formal academic occasion. Appropriate dress with the robe is suggested as follows:
WOMEN: Dress, dark shoes, subdued jewelry
MEN Dark trousers, dark shoes, dark socks, and tie (not a bow tie), white or light-colored dress shirt; no
coat necessary.
NOTE:
- No distracting jewelry, e.g. large earrings or facial jewelry. The mortarboard (cap) is worn flat on your head with the brim parallel to the ground. Tassels are worn to the left.
- Belhaven University students who graduate with academic honors will wear Belhaven University honor cords for the graduation commencement ceremonies.
- Graduates are not allowed to wear any other regalia from societies, sororities, or organizations not affiliated directly with Belhaven University.
There is no place for storage of tote bags, cell phones, purses, or other items located in this area. Please leave all bags, other clothing, etc. with family members. Staff will not be responsible for items during the ceremony.
Clearances
Please make sure all debts to Belhaven University are cleared through Student Financial Planning or Belhaven Adult Studies Accounting. You will not be allowed to pick up regalia until all balances are paid in full and all Holds cleared.
All parking tickets, library fines, etc. must be paid and Chapel requirements must be fulfilled before graduates participate in graduation exercises, receive diplomas, or have a transcript released.
Regalia and Tickets
Caps, gowns and tickets (11) will be available for pick up on Thursday, December 1, between 11:00 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. on the 2nd floor of Preston Hall (outside the Registrar’s Office). Graduates who are unable to pick up regalia and tickets at the above time must pick up regalia and tickets in the Registrar’s office, Preston Hall Room 203, during the week of December 5-9. Each guest (including infants/small children) MUST have a ticket to enter the auditorium for the ceremony. There will be no extra tickets to give out at Thalia Mara.
Diploma
Diplomas can be picked up until 11:00 am
Purchase of Graduation Pictures
Photography will be provided by Grad Images, P.O. Box 182829, Tallahassee, FL 32318 (1-800-628-4509) email address, service@gradtrak.com.
Purchase of photographs is optional; Approximately 48 hours after the ceremony, proofs will be sent directly to each student’s email address, with a link to view them on the Grad Images website (www.gradtrak.com). These transactions will be between the student and Grad Images. Graduates are photographed individually as they shake hands with Dr. Parrott (Belhaven University President). Please be sure the Belhaven University Registrar’s office has your current email and physical addresses.
Contact Information
Lee Craig, Coordinator of Ceremonies, 601-968-5922
Class Rings, Diploma Frames , Announcements
Please contact the Belhaven Bookstore in the Student Center for information on graduation announcements, diploma frames, and class rings. You can reach the bookstore at 601-968-5910. You can order class rings and diploma frames online through the Belhaven bookstore at www.belhaven.edu/bookstore – choose “Belhaven Online Bookstore”. Announcements can be ordered online at www.balfour.com. Choose “Belhaven University – Jackson, MS”.
Commencement Speaker
Ronnie Agnew,
Executive Director
After a 27-year newspaper career, Ronnie Agnew joined Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) in August 2011 as the agency’s executive director. Agnew is responsible for MPB’s strategic direction as adopted by the agency’s board of directors. As head of MPB, Agnew directs the three primary areas that form the agency’s mission: Emergency preparedness and response, economic impact media and educational resource development for all projects.
In addition to working closely with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency during emergencies, Agnew is responsible for developing programming and educational content that addresses health, workforce development and tourism. As executive director, he has oversight of all MPB radio and television programming, as well as the agency’s digital initiatives.
Agnew, a native of Saltillo, Miss., had previously served as executive editor of The Clarion-Ledger for nine years, from August 2002-August 2011. He was the newspaper’s managing editor for 18 months prior to being promoted to the top newsroom position. Under his leadership, The Clarion-Ledger won numerous state and national awards, including the Mississippi Press Association’s general excellence award eight times during his tenure at the newspaper.
Agnew, an award-winning columnist, is also active in national journalism circles. He has served as a judge for journalism’s top prize, the Pulitzer, three times, and is currently on the board of directors of the American Society of News Editors. He is a former board member of the New York-based Associated Press Managing Editors’ organization. While at The Clarion-Ledger, the newspaper was a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and was lauded nationally for its staff diversity and coverage of civil rights issues.
Agnew was honored with the prestigious Silver Em in 2008 from the University of Mississippi on the award’s 50th anniversary. While at The Clarion-Ledger, he received four President’s Rings, recognizing outstanding performance from the top 10 editors in Gannett Co. Inc., the newspaper’s parent company. He led the state’s largest newspaper as it experienced major digital growth. Agnew is also active in assisting journalism programs at several state universities. He is on the journalism advisory board of the University of Mississippi, the University of Southern Mississippi, Jackson State University, and Alcorn State University.
Agnew is a 1984 graduate of the University of Mississippi with bachelor’s degrees in radio/TV and English. He and his wife, Cynthia, have been married 25 years and have three children, Christopher, Victoria and Rachel. He is a graduate of Leadership Jackson, and Gannett’s Leadership Academy and Senior Management Development program. He is a frequent lecturer in Mississippi and nationally on media issues.
Photo Gallery
Photos will be posted in a new album on the Belhaven University FaceBook site in the days following the commencement ceremony.
Location
Thalia Mara Hall – 255 Pascagoula Street, Jackson, MS
