Spalding University will award 1,071 degrees during 10 small commencement ceremonies at venues across the school’s campus June 3-5 .
The small ceremonies are a safety measure to meet COVID-19 safety guidelines, a press release from Spalding said. Attendees will wear masks and practice social distancing.
Spalding will award 585 degrees for the 2021 academic year. Because last year’s graduation was held virtually due to the pandemic lockdown, the university will also formally confer 486 degrees for the 2020 academic year, said the release.
Five people also will be recognized during the ceremonies.
Spalding will present its 2021 alumna of the year award, called the Caritas Medal, to two of its School of Nursing graduates during one of the June 4 ceremonies.
- Mary Romelfanger, a graduate of the class of 1976, is a longtime leader, administrator and consultant in geriatric and senior care. She recently became the director of operations for Hildegard House, a local non-profit that offers care to individuals at the end of life who have no home or loved ones to care for them. Romelfanger also served for years as director of the U.S. Office of Health Services for the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
- Dr. Vicki Hines-Martin is a 1975 graduate of Spalding’s School of Nursing and a 1983 graduate of the Spalding College of Education. She serves as associate dean for the University of Louisville’s School of Nursing’s Office of Community Engagement and Diversity Inclusion, as well as director of community outreach for the U of L Health Sciences Center’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Spalding will also honor Dr. Donna Elkins, a professor in the School of Communication, with the Board of Trustees’ 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award. She will be honored at one of the June 5 ceremonies.
Retiring School of Nursing faculty members Dominican Brother Ignatius Perkins and Joe Maloney will receive the honorary title of Faculty Emeritus.
