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AUC
‘06
Commencement he University held its spring commencement at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, in St. Maarten, on April 1. The ceremony began with “The St. Martin Song” performed by Gisella Hilliman of the Rising Star Foundation. Second-semester student Heidi Martin, an opera singer, sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” The ceremony continued with the invocation by the Rev. Wycliffe Smith and welcoming remarks from Chancellor Paul Tien, Ph.D., and Dean of Basic Sciences Buz Salafsky, Ph.D. Afterwards, keynote speaker M. Joycelyn Elders, M.D., delivered powerful messages about the role of doctors in society and their responsibilities to keep children and families from becoming sick, promoting childhood immunization, family spacing, creating healthy communities, and pressuring administrators and politicians into developing health care delivery systems for those who are underprivileged or uninsured. She is the first AfricanAmerican and the second woman ever to be named Surgeon General of the United States. President Bill Clinton appointed her to this high position after she successfully ran the Public
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Health Department of Arkansas during his terms as governor. At the pinnacle of the ceremony, 84 students ascended the stage one by one, bowed and smiled as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Steve Blevins and executive dean Dr. Paul Schnatz placed a gold, green and black hood over each head. Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Hiroko Yoshida handed them their diploma. The Rev. Jeffrey Hamblin, M.D. (’92), chairman of the board of directors, led the group through the
Physician’s Oath and conferred their medical degrees. Susan Atchley, Ph.D.