Averett University celebrated its graduates during its 2026 spring commencement exercises held Saturday morning, May 9 in the Grant Center on the university’s E. Stuart James Grant North Campus. In all, 242 students participated in commencement exercises.

In front of a full audience of proud family members and friends, graduates from the university’s traditional and online programs took part in the ceremony to mark their achievements.

Graduates from August 2025, December 2025 and May 2026 were eligible to participate, representing a total of 372 bachelor’s and master’s degrees awarded by Averett over the academic year. The graduating class included students with an age range of 19 to 79 years old and from 12 countries, including Argentina, The Bahamas, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.

Stephen Davidson, this year’s Chief Faculty Marshal and assistant professor of mathematics at Averett was the mace bearer at today’s ceremony and also called to order the Spring 2026 Commencement Exercises.

Dr. Thomas H. Powell presided over his first commencement ceremony as President of Averett University. Although he attended and participated last year’s ceremony, he had been on campus for only 10 days at the time and deferred to interim president Dr. Venita Mitchell to lead the 2025 commencement.

In his opening remark, Powell took time to thank and extoll the faculty of the university. He spoke of their importance in the graduate’s path to this day.

Central to the collegiate experience is the quality of classroom teaching, the professional expertise of faculty, and the learning shared among students and their academic mentors,” Powell said.  “Your example provides the foundation from which our students encounter knowledge, and, from that knowledge, discover their potential to excel.  You set an example of excellence. To our graduates I say, be like these people.  Strive to live the honorable lives they do, in service to others.”

In breaking from past commencements, this year, there was no graduation speaker, per se. Instead, the university, wanting to focus more on the graduates and students, had short addresses from Emma Maddux Kozlowski, chair of the Board of Trustees and Daniel Olasoko ’26, president of the Student Government Association.

“What you leave with today is more than a degree. You leave with the ability, and the responsibility, to think,” Kozlowski said. “Not just to absorb information, but to question it. To weigh it. To challenge it. To decide, deliberately, what you believe and why.

“Because when you walk out of Averett, you will step into a world shaped by culture, some of it admirable, some of it flawed, much of it unexamined. And you will have a choice. You can inherit that culture as it is. Or you can build something better. You can accept easy answers, or you can insist on truth. You can follow momentum, or you can exercise judgment. You can contribute to noise, or you can add clarity. This is the real work ahead of you-not just what you do, but how you think, and what you help create around you. In your workplaces, your communities, your families-culture is not abstract. It is built, every day, by people who decide what matters.”

Olasoko spoke about his journey to Averett and the road that led him to his graduation day. He spoke of both challenges and opportunities. And of the changes that he has seen in his own life.

“Somewhere along the way, something changed for me. I have a feeling that in both big and small ways, something changed for you too,” Olasoko said. “Because what started as us simply trying to “get through college” became something much bigger. We became more than we expected. We learned how to handle pressure we once thought was too much. We learned how to adapt when things didn’t go as planned. And we stepped into leadership, sometimes without even realizing it.

“There were moments we felt overwhelmed. Moments we questioned ourselves. Moments we didn’t know if we were doing enough or if we were enough. But we kept going, and that matters. While we share this moment together, none of us took the same road to get here. Some built their college experience on campus. Some joined classrooms from miles away through screens. Some balanced coursework with jobs, families, and responsibilities waiting for them after class. Some returned to school after years away, determined to finish what they started. Different journeys. Same achievement. “

Dr. Powell presented President’s Medals to four individuals who have had an immeasurable impact on Averett University this past year. The recipients are local business figure Charles Majors, Danville City Councilman Sherman Saunders, Dr. Angela Hairston, the superintendent of Danville Public Schools and Ken Larking, Danville City Manager.

“One of our traditions is to recognize outstanding individuals whose dedication and contributions have improved our community, university, our State, and our Nation,” Powell said. “The President’s Medal is one of the highest awards we present and is only bestowed upon exceptional individuals worthy of this honor. This award is about setting an example … one of my heroes in life is Dr. Albert Schweitzer. He said it best, “Example is not the main thing in this life … it is the only thing. Our President’s Medal Recipients serve as an example to our graduates, faculty and our community.”

Dr. Mitchell, Vice President of Student Engagement, recognized those graduates receiving awards, including:

Bishop-Campbell Award – Mary-Brooke Shelton

C.L. Davenport Award – Nicholas Breen

Fugate-Crenshaw Award – Iceau J. Davis

American Legion Award – Emily Yeatts

Dr. David Rosenberg, professor of psychology at Averett, read the names of the graduates and Dr. Powell and Dr. Julie Brown, University Provost, conferred the degrees upon the graduates.

Following the presentation of the graduates, Buddy Rawley, Director of University Advancement, delivered greetings from the Alumni Board.

“Graduates, today you cross an important threshold. A few minutes ago, you were students. Now, you are alumni,” Rawley said. “That word means more than simply finishing a degree. It means you are now part of a community that stretches across generations—people who once sat where you sit, who carried the same hopes, the same late nights, the same determination to build something meaningful with their lives. I want you to remember that your relationship with Averett University doesn’t end today—it evolves. The strength of Averett is not just in its buildings or programs, but in its alumni: the people who stay connected, who support one another, who open doors for those who follow.”

Powell closed with the following call-to-action for the Class of 2026:

• May you continue to be honorable in all you do.
• May you always see God’s face in the face of others.
• May you always sense the holy, amidst the simple.
• May you discover something new about yourself every day;
• May you always have the courage and wisdom to be a leader;
• May you use your considerable talents to champion the needs of others; and
• May you take what you have learned here at your Virginia home to build just and peaceful communities — places where we prize our interpersonal relationships, where we speak and listen carefully and respectfully to each other, and where truth, integrity and love are hallmarks.

The ceremony included an invocation and benediction from University Chaplain Rev. Sean Timmons, performances of “The National Anthem” and “Averett Alma Mater” by the Averett Commencement Choir and processional and recessionals by the Averett Symphonic Band. Leading off the processional was bagpiper Geoffrey Saur playing “Highland Cathedral.”

To view a photo gallery of Commencement 2026, please click HERE.