BIG RAPIDS – As one chapter ends, another is beginning for more than
1,700 students at Ferris State University who are candidates for degrees
this spring. The university will honor these graduates in five
ceremonies over two days, during which more than 1,400 students are
expected to participate.
Commencement exercises will begin at 3:30 p.m. May 7 for the College of Allied Health Sciences followed by a 7 p.m. ceremony for the colleges of Pharmacy, Arts and Sciences, and Professional and Technological Studies. The College of Business will kick off Saturday’s ceremonies (May 8) at 9 a.m. followed by the Michigan College of Optometry and College of Education and Human Services at 12:30 p.m., and College of Engineering Technology at 4 p.m.
Kendall College of Art and Design will hold its commencement ceremony at 10:30 a.m. May 8 at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids.
Highlighting two ceremonies this year will be speakers and honorary doctoral degree recipients Joseph F. Carroll, publisher of Furniture Today, the most recognized and respected trade publication in the residential furnishings industry, and Jennifer Ramsey Wallace, outreach manager for financial aid programs for the Michigan Education Trust.
Carroll
will receive an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Kendall College of Art and
Design. He is widely known and respected among Kendall College of Art
and Design alumni in the North Carolina area and is a strong community
leader, serving as chair of High Point University’s Home Furnishings
Advisory Board, president of Triad Council for International Visitors
and president of Greensboro Sister Cities.
Wallace will be
awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service during the 12:30 p.m.
ceremony May 8. She is known as the “TIP Lady” and has played a
significant role in helping Ferris expand its Tuition Incentive Program,
which has doubled from about 300 to more than 700 students in the last
two years. Her work includes outreach to more than 100,000 children and
parents annually to educate them about the MET and financial aid. She
serves on Michigan State University’s College of Social Science and
Black Alumni board of directors.
