Furman University to Hold Spring Commencement May 9
May 4, 2015
GREENVILLE, SC – Harold C. Warlick, Jr., a 1968 Furman University graduate and former dean of the chapel and religion professor at High Point University, will serve as commencement speaker when the school holds its graduation exercises Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Paladin Stadium.
Warlick will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree during the exercises.
The public is invited to attend. In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved to Timmons Arena and admittance will be by ticket only.
Graduating senior Callie Robertson, an art history major from Tulsa, Okla., will be the student speaker. Furman will award approximately 660 undergraduate and graduate degrees during the ceremony, which will be broadcast live via streaming video on the Furman website.
The day will include an 11 a.m. baccalaureate service in McAlister Auditorium. That ceremony is reserved for graduates and their guests and is not open to the public.
Warlick retired in 2012 after 23 years at High Point University in North Carolina, where he served as dean of the chapel and professor and chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy. He has also been pastor of Baptist churches in the Carolinas and Texas, and served as director of ministerial studies at Harvard Divinity School.
After graduating from Furman, Warlick earned advanced degrees from Harvard Divinity School and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is the author of 17 books and a number of articles and essays.
Warlick received the Richard Furman Baptist Heritage Award in 2012. The Warlick Gap Scholarship at Furman, which was established by friends in his honor, provides graduates of Furman’s Bridges to a Brighter Future program with funds to supplement their college education.
Robertson is a Dean’s List student at Furman and a graduate of the university’s Shucker Leadership Institute. She has interned at Artisphere and volunteered for Indie Craft Parade, two art shows in Greenville accepting national artists. She currently interns at the Old Cigar Warehouse in Greenville.
She volunteers with Kappa Delta partner organizations such as Prevent Child Abuse America, the Julie Valentine Center and Girl Scouts. She plans to pursue a career in Design, Art Management or Event Planning after graduation.
