2025 Spring Graduate Commencement Program

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

COMMENCEMENT MAY 8, 2025

COMMENCEMENT MAY 8, 2025

Prelude Soohyun Yun, piano *Processional “Pomp and Circumstance” Soohyun Yun, piano Opening Remarks Michael S. Wilder Provost *Invocation Jon Davis Associate Vice President for Spiritual Life Welcome Dean Murphy Board of Trustees Chair *Hymn “Lead On, O King Eternal” The Marquesmen, Jennifer Luiken, director Soohyun Yun, piano Special Music “This Is My Father's World" The Marquesmen, Jennifer Luiken, director Sooyun Yun, piano Introduction of Speaker B. Keith Faulkner President Commencement Address Michael Bryant Vice President for Strategic Planning, Faith Integration, and Christian Leadership

COMMENCEMENT CONTINUED

Presentation of Candidates for Degrees Michael S. Wilder Provost Conferring of Degrees B. Keith Faulkner President Commissioning Adam Glover Lt Col, USAF, Commander, AFROTC Detachment 772 Jim Collins Col, U.S. Army, Professor of Military Science at The Citadel, 1st Brigade, United States Army Cadet Command *Alma Mater Led by The Marquesmen Jennifer Luiken, director Hail to thee, O Charleston Southern: Fount of God’s great truth and knowledge.

We thy children all sing praises ever more to thee.

Source of inspiration, beacon of salvation; Honor, Courage, Faith, and Justice These thou hast taught us day by day.

Hail to thee, O Charleston Southern, Alma Mater Hail! *Prayer of Consecration and Benediction Michael S. Wilder Provost **Recessional “March,” Franz Schubert Soohyun Yun, piano * The audience will please stand. ** The audience will remain in their places until the faculty and graduates have recessed.

Please join us for a light reception following the ceremony.

CANDIDATES FOR DEGREES DOCTORAL DEGREES Doctor of Education Renzo Zorim Almandoz Effects of Automation on Employee Attitudes in a Small-and-Medium Enterprise (SME)

Anna Hillitje Bronk-Lutz

Examining Preferred Choreographic Processes by Competitive Dance Choreographers Using Butterworth's Didactic-Democratic Spectrum Model

Zachary Calamante

Exploring the Lived Experience of Intensive Care Unit Nurses in Their First Year Post-Training: A Qualitative Inquiry into Knowledge Gaps and Educational Needs

Megan Robinson Ellison

Navigating Retention: Exploring the Influence of University Policies and Programs on the Engagement of First-Generation Minority Undergraduates

Cynthia A. Hunter

Exploring Teachers' Perception of Their Leader During a Series of Repeated Crises

Hope K. Ivanova

Comparison of Fourth Grade Mathematics Test Scores in Montessori vs. Non-Montessori Public Schools

MASTER'S DEGREES College of Education William Benjamin Iacobucci Hans A. Nielsen College of Business Anastasia Astakhova Kathryn Margaret Avery Unik Annah Awah^ Anslee Elise Bell Colton Calandra Ngan Tuyet Chau Harley Earl Davis Nobal Arrington Days Peyton Pruitt Dress Zachary Brant Ganey Cliff J. Genatt

Lisa Kathryn Grillo Roderick Terrance Wendell Hawkins II Harrison Carle Huntley Yolonda Williams James William J. Maurer Robert McCoy Jr. Nicholas A. Mistone Giang Thi Huong Nguyen Brandan Palmer Mikayla Parnell Shaquanya Pickstock

Shamiya L. Pringle Kamisha L. Qayed Brandon Keith Redd Michael Lamar Rice Jr. Nicole Denise Smith Gregory Keith Thompson-Deramus II Kenneth John Townsend Annabeth Michelle Watkins Abu Hashem Bin Yousuf

CANDIDATES FOR DEGREES College of Adult and Professional Studies Adam Jerell Bennett Tiffany Lourdes Camacho-Hammit Kendal Cook Larry Javon Coston Caleb Mancel Eichelberger Amanda Toothaker Head

Theresa Jenkins-Jackson Derrick Bezel Jenkins II Danylle Michelle Lauer Tabitha Ann Mann Krystal Eletta Montgomery Christina D. Oakes

Brianna Katheryn Parker^ Emilie Selvidge Bobby Joseph Smith Chandler James Woolridge

College of Science and Mathematics Roshni Bharadiya

Madison McDowell

College of Health Sciences Jennifer Noelle Belk Brittney Michelle Cothran Jackson Thomas Dempsey Ross McLain Fowler Dazia Imani Hammond Sarah Ashleigh Harris Kelli N. Kerkhoff

Kathryn René Wilkins Kypke Victoria Rose Painter Mabry Savannah E. Mikell Hunter Evans Mixon Sabrina Alessandra Nadeau Jamison J. Nee Kaitlyn Elizabeth Notte

Sarah Lynne Pugliese Jasmine Rayanna Denise Reese Carlee Elisabeth Seaborn Portia L. Simmons Cassidy Nicole Stone Emoni Janice Thomas

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Reginald S. Burton

Kiara J. Calhoun-Ford

^ U.S. Military Veteran

Jimmy Lee Chambers Jr.

ACADEMIC REGALIA AND CEREMONY The history of academic dress dates back to the 14th century. Their use was presumably for warmth in the unheated building during European winters. Now, they are reminders of the years of work required to earn academic degrees. The color and pageantry of the academic regalia prevalent in the United States today was fixed by convention in 1895 and revised in 1932, 1959, and 1986.

There are three basic academic gowns. The gown for bachelor degrees has pointed sleeves and is worn closed. The gown for master degrees has oblong sleeves with slit openings at the elbow and the base hanging down. It is worn with a hood, and the color indicates the discipline of the degree. The doctoral gown is tastefully ornamented with colored velvet down the front and three chevrons on the bell-shaped sleeves. Only presidential gowns have a fourth chevron on the sleeves. Both the master’s and doctor’s hoods have a velvet border, with the doctoral hood being the more elaborate. A gold tassel on the doctor’s cap replaces the black* on the master’s and bachelor’s caps.

The colors lining the hoods worn by the faculty are those of the institution granting the degree and the velvet border indicates the branch of knowledge in which the degree was acquired. The colors for the subjects are:

Arts and Humanities White Business Drab Economics Copper Education Light Blue Fine Arts Brown Law Purple Library Science Lemon Medicine Green Music Pink Nursing Apricot Philosophy Dark Blue Physical Education Sage Green Physical Therapy Teal Science Golden Yellow Theology Scarlet

GRADUATION BIBLE In addition to their diplomas, each graduate will be presented with a CSU Graduation Bible provided through the Frank J. and Brenda B. Johnson Bible Endowment and the Lockman Foundation.

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Michael Bryant Vice President for Strategic Planning, Faith Integration, and Christian Leadership Dr. Michael Bryant has served as vice president for strategic planning, faith integration, and Christian leadership at CSU since 2019. He manages the institution’s strategic plan, trains faculty in biblical worldview and teaching excellence, and offers leadership development programs for students and employees. He is a tenured professor of Christian studies and has served in a variety of administrative roles, including interim president, executive vice president, and dean of the College of Christian Studies.

Bryant is a 1995 CSU graduate and holds an MDiv and PhD in New Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He began serving at CSU in 2008 due to a strong call to serve the Lord in Christian higher education. His great passion is to help students understand God's purpose for their lives by teaching and mentoring them in and out of the classroom.

Originally from Garrett, Kentucky, Bryant has been married to Amy ’24 MBA for 28 years. They have four children, a son-in-law, and a new grandson, and are members at Northwood Baptist Church in North Charleston.

He has served as a senior pastor and student minister in North Carolina in multiple churches. He has participated in short-term mission trips to Ethiopia, Cameroon, Uganda, Moldova, and other countries where he taught church leaders in Christian institutions.