HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University will honor its spring 2023 graduates with two commencement ceremonies on May 13 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., university officials announced. Scheduled in the University Center, the 10 a.m. ceremony will honor graduates in the colleges of Business and Nursing and Health Sciences, while the 3 p.m. ceremony will honor the colleges of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, and Science and Technology.
The university will confer more than 1,000 degrees on students who are graduating with bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
In recent years, Southeastern instituted additional safety and security measures, including a mandatory clear bag policy, bag checks for guest entry, and a list of prohibited items. The list is available at www.southeastern.edu/commencement by clicking the guest information for winter commencement tab.
Southeastern President John L. Crain will deliver remarks at each ceremony, which will be his final commencements. After more than 35 years in higher education, Crain is retiring as President of Southeastern.
A native of Franklinton, La., Crain became the 14th president of Southeastern in February 2009 after having served as Interim President from July 2008. He guided the university through several years of sizable state budget reductions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and multiple hurricanes, including Hurricane Ida, which caused significant damage to the Hammond campus and surrounding region.
During his tenure, Southeastern’s campus has seen major facility improvements, including the completion of a new student union and new campus student residential facilities, as well as several new and renovated academic buildings. Multiple new academic programs were launched along with new academic support and campus life initiatives.
The Lion Athletics program has seen competitive successes by multiple teams, as well as strong academic achievement by student athletes. The Southeastern Foundation also saw impressive growth, as private fundraising took on a greater sense of urgency during the period of state funding challenges.
Prior to being named President, Crain served seven years as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Southeastern and before that as a faculty member in the Department of Accounting, including two years as President of the Faculty Senate and two years as Department Head.
The Southeastern Channel livestreams commencement so family and friends unable to attend can watch from their homes or mobile devices. The 10 a.m. ceremony live stream can be accessed at https://youtube.com/live/UxX-EeADXjw and the 3 p.m. at https://youtube.com/live/G_pjHibQW4U.
After the ceremonies, each will be available via on-demand at the YouTube links above. The week following graduation, the ceremonies will be broadcasted on the Southeastern Channel (Charter Spectrum 199).
More information about the commencement ceremonies can be found at southeastern.edu/commencement.