ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University President Edward Serna ’02 will oversee the conferring of degrees to nearly 875 students during two undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on May 6 and one graduate Commencement ceremony on May 4, all taking place at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Interim Provost Peter Judge will give the Commencement address to graduates at two undergraduate ceremonies on May 6. His speech will be among the highlights of the university’s celebration this week of its graduates. Judge, a professor emeritus of religious studies, returned to Winthrop in the summer of 2022 to serve a one-year appointment as interim provost.
Over the past year, Judge has helped analyze the university’s current academic offerings as part of the Academic Master Plan. He has also worked with Serna and other senior leaders on the university’s strategic planning process and identified ways to strengthen connections with the local and wider community.
Judge joined the Winthrop faculty in 1999 and served as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies from 2006-21; interim chair of the Department of Mass Communication from 2015-16; and as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2011-13. He has taught biblical courses in the religious studies curriculum, as well as courses having to do with early Christian thought and literature.
A native of the Buffalo, New York, area, Judge earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy/theology at St. John Vianney Seminary in New York; a S.T.B. degree in sacred theology and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in theology/religious studies from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
Winthrop’s Commencement schedule is as follows:
Thursday, May 4
7 p.m. – Nearly 260 graduate degree candidates will be hooded as part of the ceremony
to receive their master’s or specialist degrees. The university will present the Jane LaRoche Graduate Faculty Award to Tracy Griggs, associate professor in the Department of Management and Marketing in the College
of Business Administration.
Saturday, May 6
10 a.m. – Baccalaureate degrees will be awarded to graduates from the College of Arts
and Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts. During the ceremony, O. Jennifer Dixon-McKnight, assistant professor of history, will be recognized with
the Outstanding Junior Professor Award.
3 p.m. – Baccalaureate degrees will be presented to graduates from the College of Business Administration and Richard W. Riley College of Education, and the Distinguished Professor Award will be announced. Recipient Jane Thomas, professor of marketing, is unable to attend the ceremony to receive the award.
Rock Hill residents who are not attending the Commencement ceremonies may want to stay away from the Winthrop Coliseum area due to the heavy traffic anticipated during the two days. Signs will be posted near the coliseum encouraging those not attending to take a different route.
For those who cannot attend the May 4 and May 6 ceremonies, they will be available for viewing via live stream on YouTube. Please visit the university's homepage and click on the "Commencement Information" graphic to access the video and other important information regarding Commencement.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or longshawj@winthrop.edu.
