ETSUs Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy graduates 82 in commencement exercise

JOHNSON CITY A commencement ceremony took place Friday morning for the 82 students making up the Class of 2017 in the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University.

During her address, Dean Debbie Byrd thanked the graduates for choosing to attend pharmacy school at ETSU.

As you probably know, colleges compete for great students and these students could have gone anywhere they wished to pharmacy school, Byrd said. We are so pleased they chose to go on the journey to becoming a pharmacist with us. The Class of 2017 made this college its own and they are leaving it a better college of pharmacy than the one they found.

Class President Tandy Branham, in his speech, thanked the Gatton College of Pharmacy faculty and staff for their continued support over the past four years.

If you havent noticed yet, Gatton is a very special place, he said. They embrace a culture that makes us realize we truly belong. They encourage us to pursue those things that we are most passionate about. They make significant changes to the program based on our ideas for improvement. They go above and beyond to help us set Gatton apart from all the other pharmacy schools in the country. They push us to become the best version of ourselves that we can be. And they help us figure out what it truly means to be a great pharmacist.

Several graduates received awards during the ceremony, including Jordan Claborn of Albany, Kentucky, and Wade Tugman of Mountain City, who were recognized for being the highest ranking students in the graduating class. Both Claborn and Tugman were given the Valedictorian Award for having perfect grade point averages.

Students in the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacys Class of 2017 represent the eighth graduating class from the pharmacy school.