2010 Spring Commencement to Cap Off Largest Class in LWC History

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Lindsey Wilson College will cap off its largest graduating class in the college's 107-year history at this weekend's spring commencement.

Lindsey Wilson's 91st commencement ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday, May 8, in Biggers Sports Center.

Following the ceremony, the Lindsey Wilson National Alumni Association will hold a reception for graduates and their guests in Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center.

Lindsey Wilson will award a total of 199 undergraduate and graduate degrees at Saturday's ceremony. Combined with the degrees awarded at last winter's commencement ceremony, the Lindsey Wilson Class of 2010 will be a record 521 students.

That's 35 more degrees than were awarded during the 2008-09 school year, the college's previous record class. 

To put Lindsey Wilson's growth in perspective, the college awarded 312 degrees in 2003-04, the last year it held only one commencement ceremony.

"The college's continued growth is most gratifying," said Lindsey Wilson President William T. Luckey Jr., who has been the college's eighth president since 1998. "It's certainly a milestone for a college like Lindsey Wilson to graduate more than 500 students in just one school year. But even more important are the lives and families who will be changed by these college graduates."

This spring's commencement speaker will be Lindsey Wilson Chancellor John B. Begley. Begley served as the sixth Lindsey Wilson president from 1978-97, presiding over what was then one of the biggest expansions in the college's history. When he left the presidency, the college had an enrollment of 1,425 students and 44 full-time faculty. The college has since grown to 2,341 students and 94 full-time faculty.

Also at Saturday's spring commencement, two individuals will receive an honorary doctorate from the college: retired higher-education marketing consultant Jeremy Lord of Springfield, Mass., and philanthropist Kendrick McCandless of Campbellsburg, Ky.