08 May May 13 HU Commencement: 279 Degrees, Two Honorary Doctorates

About 279 students will graduate from Huntington University on May 13. Commencement will begin at 2:30 Saturday afternoon in the Merillat Complex fieldhouse. This year will see the first graduates (32 of them) from the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, which began in 2014.

Honorary doctorates will be conferred on two persons.

Ms. Kelly Savage (left), who chaired the HU Board of Trustees 2011-2015, will receive a Doctor of Commercial Science degree. As the Chief Human Resources Officer with Amway, she is responsible for the company’s more than 21,000 employees worldwide.

Savage is a member of Banner of Christ UB church (Byron Center, Mich.) and currently serves on the denomination’s Higher Education Leadership Team. She graduated from Huntington College in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, and in 1985 received a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Colorado State University. She served on the HU Board of Trustees for 14 years.

Steve Platt (right) will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He graduated from Huntington College in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and played four years of varsity basketball. He was Indiana’s all-time leading collegiate scorer (3,700) points, and was the national leading collegiate scorer in 1973 and 1974. In 1994, Platt returned to Huntington College and became the Forester’s head basketball coach. During his 14-year tenure, he compiled 329 wins against 143 losses for a .697 winning percentage, the highest in school history.