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OBU to Honor 89 Graduates During Winter Commencement Dec. 11

December 10, 2015

Oklahoma Baptist University will confer degrees upon 68 undergraduate and 21 graduate students during Winter Commencement, Friday, Dec. 11. The ceremony will take place in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium at 2 p.m. Pastor Fred Luter, Jr., senior pastor at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will deliver the address.

The students will perform their ceremonial final walk across campus as OBU students before filing into Raley Chapel. The students, in academic regalia, will proceed from the Geiger Center to the chapel, passing through rows of OBU faculty members before reaching the chapel’s east steps.

OBU President Dr. David W. Whitlock will preside over the ceremonies and deliver the charge to the graduates. The program will include a presentation of the graduating class by Truett Ross, president of the OBU Student Government Association, and Dr. Stan Norman, provost and executive vice president for campus life.

Junior Class Marshals will escort the graduating class to their seats in Raley Chapel. The top-ranking junior men and women, based on overall grade-point average, will serve as marshals. This group includes Dylan Bales, Emily Banks, Sydney Barnes, Amy Barnett, Marina Berkley, Bridget Burton, Hannah Cantrell, Annie Denny, Rachel Detweiler, Hannah Evans, Lauren Franz, Kyra Gilbert, Hayley Graft, Jordan Henderson, Lacey Herbert, Samantha Horton, Kathleen Houston, Sarah Ingle, Elise Jones, Elyse Kusakabe, Charles Lanphear, Taylor Melton, Morgan Minx, Emma Patton, Gracelyn Perkins, Levi Phillips, Hayley Powell, Amberly Proctor, Olivia Reel, Karly Rhodes, Anna Smoot and Katherine Ward.

Candidates for bachelor’s degrees from OBU’s Paul Dickinson College of Business, with academic majors and hometowns, include Ross Britt, management, Henryetta, Oklahoma; Ethan T. Coplin, management, Okemah, Oklahoma; Cale Grauer, management, Claremore, Oklahoma; Aysegul Ezgi Guney, finance, Istanbul, Turkey; Long Jin, international business/finance, Shanghai, China; Brian Nelson Medeiros, II, management, Oklahoma City; Kati Ann Parker, finance, Shawnee, Oklahoma; Caleb Bayne Potter, marketing, Miami, Oklahoma; Inés Coronel Remersaro, finance, Shawnee; Katlyn Shorter, professional accountancy, Wichita, Kansas; and Wookjin Sim, marketing, Busan, South Korea.

From the Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts, candidates for bachelor’s degrees include Jonathan Brown, theatre, Yukon, Oklahoma; Melanie Joy Clanton, voice certification: K-12, Fort Smith, Arkansas; Hilary Saige Parr, news and information, Newcastle, Oklahoma; Trevor James Rodman, theatre, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Jeanna Dewella Shea, communication studies, Claremore, Oklahoma; Tori Gaylyne Tanner, communication studies, Wewoka, Oklahoma; and Thomas Evan Whitmore, instrumental certification: K-12, Shawnee.

Candidates for bachelor’s degrees from OBU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences include Blaine Andrew Atchley, secondary social science education, Tecumseh, Oklahoma; Colin Oliver Bergeron, with a major in pre-allied health & rehabilitation services and a minor in natural science, Goddard, Kansas; Hannah N. Bernhardt, interdisciplinary with psychology, education and family services, Shawnee; Wendy Marie Boring, elementary education, Chandler, Oklahoma; Houston Dale Brown, with a major in psychology: pre-counseling and a minor in cross-cultural ministry, Nocona, Texas; William Z. Chadwick, with a major in English and a minor in graphic design, Aurora, Colorado; Kaitlyn Alyssa Coatney, with a major in psychology: pre-counseling and a minor in exercise science, Shawnee; Uniqua Franchon Cooper, pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Lawton, Oklahoma; Adam Kenneth Cribbs, sports & recreation management, Macomb, Oklahoma; Hayley Lauren Fierro, with a major in family life track and a minor in religion: Bible, Claremore, Oklahoma; Phillip L. Franz, with a major in psychology: pre-counseling, and church recreation, West Plains, Missouri; Garrett Gallacher, interdisciplinary with sports management, education and kinesiology and leisure studies, San Diego, California; Tiffanie Kaitlynn Hamon, with a major in family life track and a minor in business administration, Okmulgee, Oklahoma; Travis Donald Hinton, Jr., with a major in family life track and a minor in sociology, Shawnee; Shayanna Larin Hockett, special education/elementary education, Lodi, California; and Jordan Taylor Huffman, with a major in family life track and a minor in Christian and cross-cultural ministry: children’s ministry, Yukon, Oklahoma.

Additional candidates for bachelor’s degrees from OBU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences include Lexie Elizabeth Keller, elementary education, Springdale, Arkansas; Hannah Diane King, with a major in family life track and a minor in anthropology, Shawnee; Jonathan Michael Land, with a major in political science and a minor in sociology, Oklahoma City; Megan Anne Lawson, with a major in anthropology and a minor in religion: Bible, Joplin, Missouri; Kaitlyn Lucy, personal training/strength & conditioning, Midlothian, Texas; Laura Elizabeth Matthews, pre-allied health and rehabilitation services, Oak Point, Texas; Katherine Michelle Newsome, with a major in English and a minor in Spanish, Shawnee; Lesley Northcutt, exercise physiology & wellness, Modesto, California; Leslie Marie Nungester, with a major in family: community service track and a minor in church recreation, Pawnee, Oklahoma; Marcus Oliveira, exercise physiology & wellness, Santos, Brazil; Mary P. Palm, with a major in anthropology and a minor in religion, Arvada, Colorado; Dawn Marie Parrett, pre-allied health & rehabilitation services, Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Dámaris Cecilia Pérez, with a major in political science: international relations and a minor in Spanish, Mission, Texas; Lauren Szczepanski, elementary education, Shawnee; and Clinton Lee Wilson, interdisciplinary with kinesiology and sports management, Earlsboro, Oklahoma.

Students receiving bachelor’s degrees from the James E. Hurley College of Science and Mathematics include Kimes Bryan Gilbert, secondary mathematics education, Oklahoma City; and Amber Leigh Brooke Harper, natural science, Shawnee.

Candidates for bachelor’s degrees from the Herschel H. Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry include José Luiz Carrillo, with a major in Christian ministry with a student emphasis and a minor in exercise science, Eakly, Oklahoma; Rebecca Clegg, with a major in cross-cultural ministry and a minor in photography, Beggs, Oklahoma; Dalton Cortese, with a major in religion: Bible, and a minor in psychology, Pryor, Oklahoma; Kenney Lyn Fowler, with a major in religion: Bible, and a minor in education, Cleveland, Oklahoma; Michael D. Franklin, with a degree in Christian studies, Fort Smith, Arkansas; Tyler Matthew Hill, with a degree in cross-cultural ministry and a minor in anthropology, Altus, Oklahoma; Zhiyuan Hu, with a double major in religion: Bible and pastoral ministry, Midwest City, Oklahoma; Chace B. Ifland, with a major in religion: Bible and a minor in pastoral ministry, Edmond, Oklahoma; Chelsea Alexandra Palladino, interdisciplinary with psychology and cross-cultural ministry, Wetumka, Oklahoma; Morgan Kay Patterson, with a major in religion: Bible and a minor in TESL, Wichita, Kansas; and Tyler James Todd, with a major in student ministry and a minor in religion: Bible, Lexington, Oklahoma.

Candidates for the Master of Business Administration from OBU’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies include Nichole D. Collier, Debra Depuy, Denise Marie Engle, Jason Greenwalt, and Chase Tyler Vencl.

Candidates for the Master of Science in Nursing include Kesha Abbananto, Sarah Hart, Elizabeth Erin Leeper, Elena Muller, Randi Robbins Schoeppel, and Jennifer Ann Sharma.

Candidates for the Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy include Vanessa Nicole Brackett, Kelsey Elizabeth Callies, Tanner Warren Clark, Jessica Ann Colls, Nicole Kristine Hudson, Karrah Humble, Sara Lauren Najera, Mason Parker Phillips, Elizabeth Grace Richards, and Kendra Brooke Smith.