Undergraduate ceremony begins at 10 a.m., graduate ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m.

The University of West Alabama will honor more than 500 graduates during spring commencement exercises on Saturday, May 5, during two ceremonies. Both ceremonies will be held in Pruitt Gymnasium on the UWA campus, with presidential receptions open to all graduates and their guests held prior to each ceremony.

The University will confer degrees in the Ira D. Pruitt Division of Nursing and in the colleges of Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Business and Technology, and Education at a 10 a.m. ceremony. A reception for graduating students and their guests will be held from 8 until 9 a.m. in Bell Conference Center. Doors open at Pruitt Gymnasium at 9 a.m. for the undergraduate ceremony.

The School of Graduate Studies will confer master’s and education specialist degrees in a 1:30 p.m. ceremony. A reception in their honor will be held from noon until 1 p.m. in Bell Conference Center. Doors open at Pruitt Gymnasium at 1 p.m. for the graduate ceremony.

Tickets are required for each ceremony and are available from the graduates. Overflow seating to watch commencement exercises will be available in Lyon Hall Auditorium and is open on a first come, first served basis.

The graduating student with the highest GPA will be awarded the 2018 Ralph M. Lyon Award. In addition to students being honored for their academic achievements, longtime faculty members Dr. Manley Blackwell, Dr. Mark Griffith, Dr. Gerald Jones, Lynn S. Lashley, and Dr. Fred Myers will be named emeritus professors. The University will present the 2018 William E. Gilbert Award for Outstanding Teaching and will recognize 2018 Nellie Rose McCrory Service Excellence Award recipient Dr. Thomas Ratkovich and 2018 Loraine McIlwain Bell Trustee Professor, Dr. Natasha Satcher. Two distinguished alumni, Jim Brown of Montgomery, Ala., and Tim Mansour of Loganville, Ga., will be inducted into the University’s Society of the Golden Key.

Dr. Christopher Shelt will lead the UWA Choral Union in special performances honoring graduates, one featuring percussionist Mark W. Turner. In addition, the UWA Band, directed by Adam Anderson, will perform. Rev. Edmund Bell of Shiloh Zion Church will give the invocation and benediction.

Commencement ceremonies will stream live at www.uwa.edu/live. For more information on the event, call 205-652-3833.