LAKELAND, Fla. (April 20, 2005) - Approximately 313 Florida Southern College students will receive diplomas during two spring graduation ceremonies taking place April 30 on the FSC campus. 

The morning commencement begins at 10:30 a.m. in Branscomb Auditorium, where students from the Lakeland evening, MBA, and Orlando programs will receive their degrees. The Rev. William S. Barnes, senior pastor at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Orlando, will give the commencement speech. A former chaplain at Florida Southern, Barnes currently serves on the college's Board of Trustees. He established Shepherd's Hope, a faith-based volunteer organization that provides access to health care for uninsured workers, for which he received the Orlando area Jefferson Award, a national program which recognizes volunteer public service. 

Commencement for Lakeland day students begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Jenkins Field House on campus. Dr. Sherry Magill, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a preeminent philanthropic foundation headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., will deliver the commencement address. Magill holds a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Alabama, and a doctorate in American studies from Syracuse University. She serves as a senior moderator for the Aspen Institute and is the founding executive director of the Wye Faculty Seminar, a nationally recognized enrichment program for professors teaching in the nation's small colleges.

An Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree will be presented to Sarah McKay, chair of the college's Board of Trustees, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the college and the community. 

Dr. Magill's commencement address


About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 24 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors. Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.