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Cassius Cash is commencement speaker for 2021

Feb. 8, 2021 — Updated March 18, 2021

Photo of Cassius Cash

Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), will deliver the commencement address to Maryville College’s Class of 2021 during a ceremony scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Sun., May 9, on Honaker Field.

During the ceremony, Cash will receive the honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the 202-year-old liberal arts college.

“I have enjoyed becoming acquainted Cassius Cash in recent months, and know how he shares our high regard for liberal arts education as well as the values of diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Maryville College President Dr. Bryan Coker. “His many accomplishments will be an inspiration to our graduates, as they venture forth from the College, endeavoring to, in the words of our founder, ‘do good on the largest possible scale.’”

In 2015, Cash became the 16th superintendent – and the first Black superintendent – of the GSMNP, the most visited national park in the United States. A native of Memphis, Tenn., and graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, he also studied wildlife management at Oregon State University.

A federal employee since 1991, Cash’s career in public land management began with the United States Forest Service as a wildlife biologist at the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State. He went on to work with the U.S. Forest Service for 18 years in various leadership positions in Nebraska, Georgia, Mississippi, and Oregon before joining the National Park Service in 2010. Prior to his move to Tennessee, Cash served as superintendent at Boston National Historical Park and Boston African American National Historical Park for five years.

Seeking to use his career – and the outdoors – as vehicles to improve citizens’ wellbeing and to address racial divisions, Cash has developed initiatives to get minority populations into nature. In 2016, to mark the centennial year of the National Park Service, he developed a “Hike 100” program that encouraged people to discover and explore the GSMNP by hiking 100 miles in one year. He met the challenge by traversing the Smokies with groups of urban and tribal children. In July 2020, in the middle of racial protests around the country, Cash launched “Smokies Hikes for Healing,” which brought together eight diverse groups of people for treks through the park and discussions about race.

Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, the commencement ceremony is not open to the public. Each graduate will be given four tickets to share with family and/or friends who will need to present the tickets at the entrances to the Lloyd L. Thornton Stadium. Seating will follow the College’s COVID-19 guidelines, and all attendees will be required to wear masks.

Unfortunately, because of COVID-19 guidelines for indoor gatherings, accommodations cannot be made for guests in the event of inclement weather, but the ceremony will be live-streamed on the Maryville College website and through the College’s Facebook page.  The decision regarding inclement weather will be announced by 10 a.m. on each day. This information will be posted on the Maryville College website and on social media.

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”