Westminster College selected its president, Barney Forsythe, as its commencement speaker. Forsythe is retiring at the end of this school year after spending a decade at the college.
College President Barney Forsythe said the theme of his speech will focus on the "Breakthrough" sculpture, which Winston Churchill's granddaughter - Edwina Sandys - created using a section of the Berlin Wall. The sculpture, which sits on Westminster's campus, and the Berlin Wall have a special meaning for Forsythe. His first assignment when he served in the Army was in Berlin.
"I'm going to talk about the nature of the breakthrough world - the dynamic world in which our graduates will serve. Then, I'm going to talk about how their Westminster education has prepared them for those challenges," Forsythe said.
Forsythe said he is "honored and humbled" to be chosen as commencement speaker this year, which will be his last graduation ceremony at the college. He and his wife, Jane, are moving to South Carolina this summer.
"When I look at the list of distinguished people who have given our commencement addresses, I'm very honored to have been asked to give the commencement address and to join this class as we commence the next phase of our lives - in their case, to start their adult lives and in Jane and my case, to go off and do other things for our local community," Forsythe said.
After retiring from the U.S. Army, Forsythe was hired at senior vice president of the college and dean of faculty at Westminster in 2005. He was appointed as the college's 20th president in 2008.
Forsythe said he appreciates the opportunity to have one last opportunity to address the college's students, faculty and staff.
Before deciding what to highlight in his speech to graduates, Forsythe said he took time to reflect upon what message he wanted to leave with students and studied commencement speeches.
Westminster's commencement exercises will begin at 2 p.m. in Champ Auditorium on campus. Tickets are required. The ceremony will be simulcast in the Coulter Science Center Lecture Hall as well and live streamed. After the commencement exercises, the traditional Columns Ceremony will take place. As freshmen, students walk through the columns on campus. As graduates, they walk through once more to say goodbye to Westminster and college.
Earlier that morning, a baccalaureate service, which is open to the public, will be held at 10:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Fulton, located at 718 Court Street. It will feature a message from Rev. Mary Gene Boteler, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. According to a press release from the college, Boteler has been "actively involved in efforts to dismantle racism and white privilege following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson."
The school will hold a commencement luncheon for the graduates, their families and Westminster faculty and staff from 11:00 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Mueller Leadership Hall and Mueller Student Center.