Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu 
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            Shawnee State University is holding its first fall commencement on December 11 at 3 p.m. at the Vern Rife Center for the Arts.
            “This is one of the signs of growth for us,” Dr. Rita Rice Morris, SSU President, said. “This is the first year in our history to offer both a fall and a spring graduation. It’s an important step for our institution and an important milestone for our students.”
            The fall commencement is an opportunity for students who finished their coursework during the summer semester or are graduating this fall to have the chance to walk through commencement immediately after graduation rather than coming back in the spring for commencement.
            "The smaller ceremony will give us the opportunity to incorporate a hooding ceremony for students receiving a master's degree,” said Jonica Burke, registrar at SSU. “In this ceremony, the graduate will be draped with the traditional academic hood. This will be a special moment for our graduate degree recipients, and an inspirational one for baccalaureate graduates going on to graduate school."
            Graduating students say they appreciate the opportunity to graduate earlier.
            “I’m definitely glad that they are having a fall commencement,” said Emilee Marth, a graduating senior at SSU. “It would be tedious to have to come back in May if they didn’t have it in December.”
            Rehearsal will take place on Friday, Dec. 11at 10 a.m. in the Vern Riffe Center.
            For more information, contact the Office of the Registrar at (740) 351-3377 or visit the Web site at http://www.shawnee.edu/off/reg/index.html.