OBU to Honor 103 Graduates During Winter Commencement Dec. 16

December 16, 2016

Oklahoma Baptist University will confer degrees upon 74 undergraduate and 29 graduate students during Winter Commencement, Friday, Dec. 16. The ceremony will take place in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium at 2 p.m. Pastor Joe Ligon, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Marlow, Oklahoma, and president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, will deliver the address.

The students will perform their ceremonial final walk across campus as OBU students before filing into Raley Chapel. The students, in academic regalia, will proceed from the Geiger Center to the chapel, passing through rows of OBU faculty members before reaching the chapel’s east steps.

OBU President Dr. David W. Whitlock will preside over the ceremonies and deliver the charge to the graduates. The program will include a presentation of the graduating class by Hunter Doucette, president of the OBU Student Government Association, and Dr. Stan Norman, provost and executive vice president for campus life.

A live stream of Winter Commencement will be available to watch, beginning at 2 p.m.

Junior Class Marshals will escort the graduating class to their seats in Raley Chapel. The top-ranking junior men and women, based on overall grade-point average, will serve as marshals. This group includes Megan Bowlin, Anna Brewster, Abigail Chadwick, Miranda Granger, Amy Harden, Amber Isaac, Luke Jarboe, Jamie Knox, McKenzie Lumry, Ellen Magar, Aimee Mantz, Heath McClure, Rebekah McPheeters, Cassidy Olsen, Kristin Phillippe, Stephen Phillippe, Connelly Rader, Kyle Reich, Elisa Renfro, Hanah Rodriguez, Amyy Schumer, Chancellor Stillwell, Joshua Taylor, Annika Tolley, Bethany VanGoethem, Charis Walker, Kaylan Westbrook, Samantha Willoughby and Stephanie Zackery.

Candidates for bachelor’s degrees from OBU’s Paul Dickinson College of Business, with academic majors and hometowns, include JyWayne Allen, marketing, Ardmore, Oklahoma; Ty Chlouber, marketing, Shawnee, Oklahoma; Debra Fairchild, professional accountancy, Carrollton, Texas; Paige Fisher, finance, Shawnee; Iveth Luna, marketing, Mesquite, Texas; Kristopher McNeal, international business, Lewisville, Texas; Michael Miears, marketing, Tuttle, Oklahoma; Kyle Opskar, international business, Derby, Kansas; Katie Richey, management, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Korie Russel, marketing, Moore, Oklahoma; Cami Sayre, social entrepreneurship, Edmond, Oklahoma; Joseph Ward, management, Coalgate, Texas; Rachel Wedige, finance, North Richland Hills, Texas; Jordyn Woodward, social entrepreneurship, Cleveland, Oklahoma; and Boyu Xie, international business.

From the Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts, candidates for bachelor’s degrees include Jermaine Livingston, news and information, Moore, Oklahoma; Trevor Mastin, interdisciplinary, Shawnee; Kyleeann Parker, communication studies, McAlester, Oklahoma; Olivia Seamans, theatre, Oklahoma City; and Andrew Tinker, digital media arts, Moore.

Candidates for bachelor’s degrees from OBU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences include Douglas Alexander, exercise and sports science: personal training/strength and conditioning, Oklahoma City; Alexis Allen, family and community service: family life, Muskogee, Oklahoma; Hannah Bench, elementary education, Greenville, Texas; Autumn Breckenridge, English, Oklahoma City; Hayden Burnett, health, physical education and recreation, P-12, Shawnee; Erica Cleveland, family and community service: family life, Carrollton, Texas; Kenneth Combs, exercise and sports science: personal training/strength and conditioning, Oklahoma City; Miranda Dent, exercise and sports science: personal training/strength and conditioning, Shawnee; Christian Doty, interdisciplinary, kinesiology and leisure studies and education, Whitewright, Texas; Kelsey Doty, exercise and sports science: pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Pryor, Oklahoma; Hannah Doucette, early childhood education, Hanover, Pennsylvania; Audra Frank, interdisciplinary: psychology and education, Shawnee; Katelyn Fritz, elementary education, Andover, Minnesota; Devan Gallaway, early childhood education, Shawnee; Jacie Harris, exercise and sports science: pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Muskogee; Jayme Hill, leisure service management: camp administration, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma; Laura Little, exercise and sports science: pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Choctaw, Oklahoma; Kasey Maddox, health, physical education and recreation, Newalla, Oklahoma; Jesseka Martin, anthropology, Calera, Oklahoma; Clay Mattox, psychology: pre-counseling, Yukon, Oklahoma; Kevin McGehee, sociology, Edmond; and Kaitlyn McNeal, English education, secondary, Lewisville, Texas.

Additional candidates from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences include Tyler Melton, sports and recreation management, Anadarko, Oklahoma; Corin Mines, family and community service: family life, McPherson, Kansas; Taylor Neal, interdisciplinary: sports management and kinesiology and leisure studies, Okmulgee, Oklahoma; Abby Packwood, early childhood education, Broken Bow, Oklahoma; Brynden Pitzer, elementary education, Edmond; Joy Quary, pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Ardmore; Emilea Rouse, psychology pre-counseling; Muskogee; Jerrick Rumph-Henderson, interdisciplinary: kinesiology, exercise science, and sports management, Conyers, Georgia; Christina Seaborn, interdisciplinary: family and community service, business administration, and sports management, Meeker, Oklahoma; Bentlee Smiley, psychology pre-counseling, Shawnee; Ashley Snow, interdisciplinary: kinesiology, psychology, and sports management, Collinsville, Texas; Emalee Staude, exercise and sports science: pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Shawnee; Breanna Thompson, social science education, secondary, Columbia, Missouri; Andrew Thomsen, social science education, secondary, Oklahoma City; Kaitlin Wiens, special education / elementary education, Shawnee; and Jacklynn Williams, psychology, Drexel, Missouri.

From the James E. Hurley College of Science and Mathematics, candidates for bachelor’s degrees include Jordan Henderson, interdisciplinary: mathematics, anthropology, and Spanish, Greenville; Shannon McAlester, natural science, McAlester; Kirsten Scarbrough, biochemistry, Abilene, Texas; and Garrett Weir, science education, secondary, Bristow, Oklahoma.

Candidates for bachelor’s degrees from the Herschel H. Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry include Jennifer Briggs, Christian ministry, women’s ministry emphasis, Oklahoma City; Jacob Cleveland, Christian ministry, educational ministry emphasis, Shawnee; Nathan Crawford, Christian ministry: student ministry emphasis, Maud, Oklahoma; Blake Martin, religion: Bible, Shawnee; Adrienne McDonald, Christian ministry: children's ministry, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Colton Meyer, cross-cultural ministry: international church planting emphasis, Tulsa; Emily Nickerson, cross-cultural ministry, Shawnee; Joseph Posada Jr., cross-cultural ministry, Shawnee; and Aaron Smith, Christian ministry, pastoral ministry, McAlester.

Candidates for the Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies from OBU’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies include Gary Garrett and Caleb Hamilton.

Candidates for the Master of Arts in Christian Studies from OBU’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies include John Cullison and Christopher Foster.

Candidates for the Master of Business Administration include Jordan Belt, John Burns, Francisco da Silva, Raquel Dudzevich, Cody Eden, Clinton Hughes, Jannette Medina, Kelly Scott, Robert Shamblin, Lakshmi Viswanath, and Huazhen Yu.

Candidates for the Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy include Larry Brewer, Ashley Housley, Leah McCurdy, Anne Renfro, Rachel Roberds, Tiffany Rose, and Samuel Walker.

Candidates for the Master of Science in Nursing include Tana Clark, Kimberli Corcoran, Kimberly Engelking, Kayde Higgins, Sherri Johnson, Sandra Moore, and Rebekah Yount.

To view a live stream of Winter Commencement or for more information about OBU, visit www.okbu.edu.