03 Apr 264 Graduates Receiving HU Degrees May 12

Huntington University’s 114th commencement exercises are coming up. Degrees will be awarded to 264 graduates.

Date: May 12, 2012
Time: 3 pm
Location: Merillat Physical Education and Recreation Complex.

Dan Wolgemuth (right), president and CEO of Youth for Christ USA, will give the commencement address. Wolgemuth, a 1977 Taylor University grad, joined Youth for Christ USA as its president and CEO in 2005.

The university will also award three honorary doctorate degrees.

1. An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree will be presented to commencement speaker Dan Wolgemuth.

2. An honorary Doctor of Divinity degree will be presented to the Rev. Luther Whitfield (right). Whitfield joined Youth for Christ in 1991 as the urban inner city director. In many years of service with the organization, he has helped to develop urban ministry programs for Fort Wayne, including the formation of the Primetime Community Center. Primetime inspires the youth of Fort Wayne through Campus Life ministries, juvenile justice programs, and sports programming. Whitfield continues to serve Primetime today as its senior director. He is also the senior pastor of New Covenant Worship Center, a church based at the Primetime Community Center.

3. An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be presented to 1977 Huntington alum Charles Curie (right). Curie is the principal/owner of The Curie Group LLC in Rockville, Md., which is a management and consulting firm specializing in working with national and international leaders in public and private health care. He is a 1977 graduate of Huntington, with degrees in psychology and sociology; he served as student senate president during his senior year. He also holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago. In 2001, Curie was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the US Senate to head the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Dr. Tim Smith (right), Huntington University associate professor of history, will present the baccalaureate sermon at 10:30 am in the fieldhouse. His message is titled “The Empire Strikes Back” and will focus on Ecclesiastes 9:11.

Smith joined the Huntington history and political science department in 2007. He previously taught history at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. His research and teaching focus on British imperial and diplomatic history. He is also the director of the Centre for Non-Western Studies. Smith recently published two books on the Vietnam War titled, “Churchill, America and Vietnam, 1941-45” and “Britain and the Origins of the Vietnam War: UK Policy in Indo-China, 1943-50.”

The commencement exercises and the baccalaureate sermon are open to the public, and no tickets are required.