Lindsey Wilson University's First Summer Commencement Ceremony Caps Off Largest Class in School History

first class rise fellows COLUMBIA, Ky. (08/16/2026) — Lindsey Wilson held its first summer commencement ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 15, by celebrating people who showed up.

As graduate student David Browne told his fellow 291 Lindsey Wilson graduates in his commencement address, "showing up matters."

"We started this journey with questions," said Browne, an Elizabethtown, Kentucky, resident who earned a master of education degree in counseling. "We had moments of doubt. We had moments where balancing school, work, family, and life felt impossible. But we kept showing up. And showing up matters."

Lindsey Wilson awarded 292 degrees at its 124th commencement ceremony, held in Biggers Sports Center -- 37 bachelor of arts degrees, 251 master degrees and four doctorate degrees.

Lindsey Wilson awarded a total of 1,449 degrees at its December and May commencement weekends in 2025-26, which were held over five ceremonies. The 292 degrees awarded at the university's inaugural summer commencement on Saturday afternoon raised the total number of graduates during 2025-26 to 1,741 -- the largest class in the school's 123-year history. LWU's previous largest class of graduates was 1,733 in 2024-25.

'The power of transformation'

David Browne commencement address A high school dropout who saw the inside of a prison before he was 16 years old, Browne said that his educational and professional successes are examples of "the power of transformation."

"The last grade I completed was the eighth grade," said Browne. "I dropped out of school during the ninth grade and walked away from an education that I did not understand the value of at the time. I was not thinking about college, careers or the person I could become. I was making decisions based on where I was in life at that moment, and those decisions led me down a path filled with addiction, incarceration and consequences. I spent years running from the person I had become, not understanding that the person I needed to face was myself."

Browne -- who earned a pair of associate degrees and a bachelor's degree in engineering before enrolling at Lindsey Wilson -- said his life changed when he learned "one of the greatest lessons I have ever been taught: the pain to change had to become greater than the necessity to remain the same."

Browne recalled that during his recovery, which is now more than 13 years, he felt called to enroll in Lindsey Wilson's graduate program in counseling.

"When I started this journey toward becoming a counselor, I was not just earning a degree," he said. "I was rewriting a story that once seemed impossible to change. I was preparing myself to sit across from people who feel the same hopelessness I once felt. I was preparing myself to meet people who believe their mistakes, their addiction or their past have already decided their future. And I want them to know what I had to learn: your story is not over."

In addition to opening new professional opportunities, Browne said that earning a Lindsey Wilson degree also comes with new obligations.

"This degree represents knowledge, but it also represents responsibility," he said.

And Browne reminded his fellow graduates that the greatest contributions they will make will come in the difference they make in the world.

"Our greatest impact may not come from the titles we earn or the accomplishments listed on our resumes," he said. "Our greatest impact will come from the lives we touch, the hope we provide, and the people who are able to believe in themselves because we believed in them first."

Pictured, first: The first class of Lindsey Wilson University RISE fellows gather in front of the Phillips Hall mural before the university’s summer commencement on Saturday, Aug. 15. The RISE fellowship -- which stands for Resilience, Integration and Support Expansion -- is awarded to counseling graduate students committed to working with underserved areas of Kentucky and West Virginia. Pictured, from left: School of Professional Counseling Dean Jeffrey Parsons; SPC Director of Professional Counseling Graduate Program Stacy Springston; Madyson Jones of Elizabethtown, Ky.; Kayla Caldwell of Harlan, Ky.; Andrea Wilson Graf of Corinth, Ky.; Breanna Smith of Pineville, Ky.; Barbara Fletcher of Richmond, Ky.; Bonnie Mullett of Kite, Ky.; Courtney Newsome of Pikeville, Ky.; Sue-Margaret Meador of Franklin, Ky.; and School of Professional Counseling Associate Dean Hannah M. Coyt. Not pictured: McKenzie Horton of Dunnville, Ky.; Brittany Sulfridge of Williamsburg, Ky.; and Kasie Wallace of Pippa Passes, Ky.

Pictured, second: Lindsey Wilson University graduate student David Browne of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, delivers the commencement address at the university’s inaugural summer commencement ceremony, held Saturday, Aug. 15, in Biggers Sports Center. Lindsey Wilson awarded 292 degrees at its 124th commencement ceremony. Browne received a master of education in counseling.