University of Dubuque Announces 2014 Commencement Ceremonies
May 6, 2014 | Kristi Lynch
The University of Dubuque today announced the calendar of events for its 162nd Commencement for 469 undergraduate, graduate, and seminary students.
College Commencement Events
The College Baccalaureate Service will be held Friday, May 16, at 5:00 p.m. in Heritage Center’s John and Alice Butler Hall. This year’s Baccalaureate Service speaker will be Marta Abele, professor of education, who has chosen Seedfolks as the title of her remarks.
Following the Baccalaureate Service, the University will host the annual Senior Dinner for graduating seniors and their families at the Grand River Center (by invitation only) in the Ballroom.
The University of Dubuque will confer degrees on 336 undergraduate and 84 graduate students during its 162nd College Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 17, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Chlapaty Recreation and Wellness Center on the University of Dubuque Campus. Professor Robert Reid, head of the communication department and director of the Master of Arts in Communication (MAC) degree program, will deliver the Commencement Address, titled Go Be Invulnerable.
Reid joined the University of Dubuque in 2000 as head of the Communication Department and became director of the MAC program the following year. He holds the bachelor of arts from California State University – Fullerton, the master of divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, the master of arts from the University of Washington, and a doctorate from the University of Washington. Reid is ordained to the American Baptist Ministry (ABC/USA). He has published six non-fiction books and one novel.
Seminary Commencement Events
The University of Dubuque Theological Seminary Baccalaureate Service will be held Friday, May 16, at 9:30 a.m. in Blades Chapel. Dr. Timothy Slemmons, assistant professor of homiletics and worship, will deliver the homily titled Trained for the Kingdom.
The University’s Seminary will confer degrees on 49 students – 39 residential and distance master of divinity, 4 master of missional Christianity, and 6 doctor of ministry – during the Seminary Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 18 at 9:30 a.m. in Heritage Center’s John and Alice Butler Hall.
Dr. Amanda Benckhuysen, assistant professor of Old Testament, will deliver the Seminary’s Commencement Address, titled How Beautiful.
Dr. Benckhuysen joined the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 2008. Prior to joining the faculty at UDTS, she served in various ministry settings, including pastoral ministry, new church development, and campus ministry. She has written extensively for the academy and for the church, and is currently working on a book manuscript, provisionally titled, The Legacy of Eve: a History of Women’s Interpretations of the Story of Eve. She earned the master of divinity degree from Calvin Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in biblical studies from the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. This summer, Benckhuysen and her family will move to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she will join the faculty of Calvin Theological Seminary.
