President Smolla Charge to the Graduates
Photos from Graduation
GREENVILLE, S.C.—Furman University awarded 611 undergraduate and master’s degrees and presented a number of its top academic honors during graduation exercises Saturday, May 7.
The Scholarship Cup, given to the graduating senior with the highest academic average, was awarded to three students, all of whom earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.
Those receiving the Cup were Claire Elizabeth Greenstein, a political science and German major from Clemson; John Walter Helsel, a physics and philosophy major from Atlanta, Ga.; and Rebecca Kathryn Waldrip, a mathematics major from Chester.
Reece Cameron Lyerly of Roswell, Ga., and Katherine Suzanne Shultz of Hoover, Ala., received the General Excellence awards, given by the Furman faculty to the outstanding male and female student in the graduating class. Lyerly majored in earth and environmental sciences, and Shultz majored in political science.
The commencement speaker was graduate Elizabeth Trenary of Raleigh, N.C., a political science and history major. Her speech is online here.
Furman also presented Alester G. Furman, Jr., and Janie Earle Furman awards for meritorious teaching and advising. The teaching awards went to James Creighton Edwards, Louis G. Forgione Professor of Philosophy, and Daniel Martin Koppelman, Professor of Music.
The advising awards were presented to Owen Michael McFadden, Director of Recreational Sports, and Onarae Vashun Rice, Assistant Professor of Psychology.
For more information, contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.