ETSU Commencement celebration continues on Saturday

Final ceremony Sunday, May 9

JOHNSON CITY (May 8, 2021) – East Tennessee State University continued its four-day Commencement celebration on Saturday as degrees were presented to graduates of the colleges of Nursing, Public Health, and Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences and the Clemmer College.

Throughout the weekend, degrees are being conferred to over 2,000 students.  In addition, the university held a special ceremony on Friday at 10 a.m. honoring the Class of 2020 graduates.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, degrees were conferred to these students in virtual ceremonies, but yesterday they had the opportunity to don their cap and gown and cross the Commencement stage.

Tennessee Commissioner of Health Dr. Lisa Piercey returned to her alma mater to deliver Saturday’s 10 a.m. address.

“As you embark upon your careers, I encourage you to seek out opportunities to ‘show up’ professionally,” said Piercey, a graduate of the Quillen College of Medicine.  “Much like you’ve already experienced in your higher education, simply filling the chairs and checking the boxes do not ensure success. You must engage fully, explore curiously, and repeat endlessly. It is not enough to dream and hope - instead, you must become. To be a writer, you must write. To be a servant, you must serve.
“Ultimately, you cannot be the noun, without doing the verb,” she said.

Beth Bass, a College of Arts and Sciences graduate and former ETSU basketball player also returned to her alma mater on Saturday as the keynote speaker for the 3 p.m. ceremony.

Dr. Brooks Pond from the Gatton College of Pharmacy and recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching delivered the keynote speech at Friday afternoon’s ceremony for graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences. 

The celebration will conclude on Sunday as graduates from the College of Business and Technology, Pharmacy Studies, Cross-Disciplinary Studies and Global Sport Leadership cross the stage.  Dr. Wilsie Bishop, Senior Vice President for Academics and Interim Provost, will deliver the Commencement address – her “last lecture,” so to speak, as she plans to retire from ETSU at the end of June following 43 years of service. The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. A live-stream is available at etsu.edu/classof2021.