Bellarmine University will hold its 66th commencement ceremony — its largest-ever — at 11 a.m. May 11 at Freedom Hall, 937 Phillips Lane.
The university expects to award approximately 934 undergraduate and graduate degrees during the ceremony, according to a press release from the school.
The commencement was traditionally held on the Bellarmine campus, but was moved to Freedom Hall because of the large graduating class, said the release.
Dr. Carole Pfeffer, Bellarmine’s provost who will retire this month, is scheduled to deliver the commencement speech.
Pfeffer has had a 30-year career at the university, serving as associate professor of English, associate vice president and vice president for academic affairs. She was appointed provost in 2014. During the ceremony,
Pfeffer will receive an honorary doctoral degree.
“I’ve always loved commencement, signifying as it does the goal of what we do at Bellarmine: provide a culture of success so enrolled students can earn their respective degrees,” said Pfeffer in the release. “In recent years, I especially loved having the privilege of reading the students’ names at commencement before they walk across the stage.”
Having the opportunity to speak to students one last time will be “joyous,” Pfeffer said.
A baccalaureate Mass will take place at 4 p.m. at St. Agnes Church, 1920 Newburg Road, May 10. A doctoral hooding ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. in Bellarmine’s Knight Hall, on the university’s campus that evening.
Theo Edmonds, an assistant professor and director of the Center for Creative Placehealing at the University of Louisville, will be the speaker at the ceremony.
