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Newly Elected S.C. Supt. of Education Molly Spearman to Deliver Lander Commencement Address

Molly SpearmanLander University will hold its fall commencement on Saturday, Dec. 13, conferring degrees on 195 graduates.

Due to campus construction, commencement attendees are encouraged to arrive early and allow for additional time to park and walk to Horne Arena. A campus map with information on general and handicap parking for commencement is available here.

The commencement speaker will be Molly Spearman, the newly elected Superintendent of Education for South Carolina.

Spearman, a Saluda native, graduated from Lander in 1976 with a degree in music education. She earned a master's in education supervision from George Washington University and an education specialist degree from the University of South Carolina.

Her academic career included over 18 years as a public school music teacher and as an assistant principal.

She served as a member of the S.C. House of Representatives for seven years. In 1998, she was appointed the state Department of Education's Deputy Superintendent of Education for Governmental Relations.

She is the executive director of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, whose membership includes over 3,600 principals, superintendents and school leaders.

Lander President Daniel Ball said the commencement will include the awarding of an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree to Dr. Roger Richardson, of the University of Winchester in England. A Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Social Services, he was chair of Winchester's Department of History and Archaeology for 22 years.

As the university's director of International Relations for many years, he collaborated with Lander in the creation of a partnership enabling students to spend a semester or more studying at Winchester.

Ball said Richardson had a significant impact on the success of Lander's Study Abroad program, which has sent nearly 70 students to Winchester for a semester. Ball said Richardson mentored Lander students at Winchester and watched over their personal as well as academic well being. He added, "He served as a father to our overseas students, and for that I am deeply grateful."

The commencement will be held in Lander's Finis Horne Arena, beginning at 11 a.m. A live stream of the ceremony will be available on the university's website, www.lander.edu.