SWU to Confer more than 500 Degrees

COLUMBIA, SC – December 4, 2008 – Graduates, their families and friends will gather at Southern Wesleyan University’s campus in Central on Dec. 11 and 13, for commencement exercises.

The 2008 winter graduation exercises will be held in the Newton Hobson Chapel and Fine Arts Center. There will be three ceremonies. Students are assigned to each ceremony based on their program and location.

The speaker for the Dec. 11 ceremony will be Jane Robelot, vice president of CarolinaZoom Productions. She will be addressing students in Southern Wesleyan University’s traditional programs who are earning bachelor’s degrees.

Robelot is a nationally-acclaimed television news correspondent. The highlight of her professional life was anchoring for CBS News from 1995-99. She was co-anchor of the “CBS Morning News” and later was anchor of “CBS This Morning.” While at CBS, Robelot won two Emmy awards for journalistic excellence and a national Emmy nomination. She has covered many important events including the death of Princess Diana and Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba and has had the opportunity to interview numerous national and world leaders. She is now a contributing reporter for WYFF-TV in Greenville.

Robelot is a deeply committed Christian with a heart for evangelism. She is also a graduate of Clemson University, where she remains active as a Clemson alumnus and member of the President’s Advisory Board. She is co-host for the Christian radio and television ministry of Dr. Michael Youssef’s “Leading the Way,” in Atlanta. Along with her husband, Mario DeCarvalho, noted CBS photographer and cameraman, Robelot initiated a production company called CarolinaZoom Productions.

For the two Dec. 13 ceremonies, U.S. Congressman Gresham Barrett will be the guest speaker. These ceremonies will be for Adult and Graduate Studies students.

Rep. Barrett was recently reelected to his House seat for the 101st Congress in 2008. Currently, he serves on the Budget Committee, the House Committee on Financial Services, the House Committee on International Relations and the Ethics Commission. Prior to being elected to the U.S. Congress in 2002, he managed his family-owned business in Westminster. He served three consecutive terms in the S.C. House of Representatives, where he was on the Education and Public Works Committee.

A 1983 Citadel graduate, Rep. Barrett went on to achieve the rank of captain and served in the U.S. Army Field Artillery until 1987. Being active in his church and community are important to Rep. Barrett. He has served as president of the Westminster Rotary Club, chairman of the Oconee Boy Scouts and is active in many other community organizations. He is a native and current resident of Westminster. Rep. Barrett is married to his high school sweetheart, Natalie, and they have three children.

The graduation ceremony on Dec. 11 at 3 p.m. is for students who are graduating from the university’s traditional programs, earning bachelor’s degrees.

On Saturday, Dec. 13, the university will hold a 10 a.m. ceremony for  students in the Adult and Graduate Studies Programs earning associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master of education degrees, master of ministry degrees, master of science degrees and master of business administration degrees from the university’s Central and Greenville locations.

Also on Dec. 13, the university will hold a 3 p.m. ceremony for students in the Adult and Graduate Studies Programs earning associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master of education degrees, master of science degrees, and master of business administration degrees from the university’s Charleston, Columbia and North Augusta locations.

The university expects to confer more than 500 degrees, according to Registrar Rock McCaskill.

For details, call Southern Wesleyan University’s Academic Records Department at (864) 644-5530. Tickets, issued through the university, are required for those attending Saturday’s ceremonies. Overflow seating is available, which will allow guests without tickets to view the ceremony via a closed circuit broadcast. Details may be found at www.swu.edu/academics/academic_records/graduation.htm.

 

Other end-of-semester events include Baccalaureate Chapel on Dec. 11 at 10:50 a.m. in Newton Hobson Chapel and Fine Arts Center on the university’s campus in Central. The baccalaureate sermon will be delivered by Rev. Kevin Myers.

Rev. Myers is founder and Senior Pastor of 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Ga.  Rev. Myers is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University and serves as a member of the District Board of Administration of the South Coastal District of The Wesleyan Church. He is nationally recognized as a pastor and speaker, church leader and speaker for Southern Wesleyan University’s spiritual emphasis services. Rev. Myers has also been nominated to serve as a member of the Southern Wesleyan University Board of Trustees.

In 1987, Rev. Myers and his wife Marcia, along with three other couples, planted a Wesleyan church in the growing Lawrenceville area. Today, 12Stone Church has attendance of 6,600 in three locations. 12Stone Church has become the largest and fastest growing Wesleyan church in North America. Recently, Rev. Myers and the church were included in the top 100 churches in North America of all denominations and named the sixteenth fastest growing church in North America among all denominations.

The university’s Baccalaureate Chapel includes a “Ceremony of the Servants” and a challenge for graduates of the university to find ways to serve the needs of people throughout the world.

Southern Wesleyan University prepares students for leadership and graduate study in such fields as religion, education, music, business, medicine, law and a variety of civic and social service professions. Southern Wesleyan offers 35 major areas of study for undergraduates and graduate degrees in the areas of business, education and ministry. The university’s main campus is in Central and there are regional learning centers across the state, in locations such as Greenville, Columbia, Charleston and North Augusta. Classes are also offered in Spartanburg and Greenwood.