MC announces details of in-person commencement ceremonies

March 18, 2021

Maryville College will hold in-person commencement ceremonies for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 on May 8 and 9.

Members of the Class of 2020 will graduate on Sat., May 8, during a 3:30 p.m. ceremony. The Class of 2021 will graduate at 3:30 p.m., on Sun., May 9.

Both ceremonies will be held on Honaker Field, the College’s football field, and seating will follow the College’s COVID-19 guidelines. All attendees will be required to wear masks.

Dates for ceremonies switched

Dates for the class graduations have been switched since earlier this year, when Commencement information was first announced. The switch is due to Commencement speakers’ availability.

Bogart, Cash to deliver addresses

At the request of class members, the Commencement speaker for the Class of 2020 will be Maryville College President Emeritus Dr. William T. “Tom” Bogart. Bogart, who led the College from 2010 until June of 2020, was set to preside over the class’s commencement last May before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed it. He is now the president of Columbia College in Columbia, S.C.

Bogart will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the College, and alumnus and former Maryville Mayor Tom Taylor ’70 will receive an honorary doctor of public service degree. Taylor delivered an abbreviated commencement address to the class last year in a virtual ceremony.

The commencement speaker for the Class of 2021 will be Cassius Cash, the 16th – and the first Black – superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the United States. A native of Memphis, he is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and also studied wildlife management at Oregon State University. During the ceremony, Cash will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, the upcoming commencement ceremonies are 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.

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.

Baccalaureate planned

Baccalaureate for the Class of 2021 will be held at 10 a.m., May 9, in the Clayton Center for the Arts’ Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre. Dr. Drew Crain, professor of biology, will give the baccalaureate sermon. Because of COVID-19 safety protocols, only graduates will be allowed to attend.

For more information, visit maryvillecollege.edu/commencement.

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.”