Conway Urges Winter Graduates to Become Leaders in Kentucky

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Lindsey Wilson College graduates have an opportunity to help lead Kentucky.

That is what Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway told members of the first half of the Class of 2013 Saturday morning at the college's winter commencement, held in Biggers Sports Center.

"We are counting each and every one of you to find what you love and make Kentucky all it can be," Conway said in his commencement address.

 

Watch the Lindsey Wilson Singers perform "Psallite" at winter commencement. telly.com/G648H

- via @LindseyWilson December 15, 2012

Lindsey Wilson awarded a record 381 degrees at its 96th commencement ceremony. The 109-year-old liberal arts college awarded 194 undergraduate degrees and 187 graduate degrees. LWC's previous record winter class was 365, which was graduated in 2010. The college awarded 287 degrees at last winter's commencement.

Conway, who has been Kentucky's 49th attorney general since 2008, reminded the graduates that being a college graduate is still rare in Kentucky -- fewer than 20 percent of the commonwealth's residents hold at least a baccalaureate degree.

"You have already earned something," he told the graduates and more than 2,000 guests. "By flipping that tassel, you're the leaders of our state. By flipping that tassel, you're the promise. By flipping that tassel, you are our future. And we need you -- we need you to launch a business, we need you to start a career, we need you to raise a family, we need you to build our communities."

Conway also urged the graduates to support efforts to increase the number of Kentuckians with a college degree.

"I hope that since you are now amongst the leaders of our state that you understand what our beloved commonwealth faces, and how some things are keeping us from being all that we can be," he said. "We must have an educational system where our public universities and colleges collaborate, where we're not in an arms race of buildings, where we understand the efficiencies, and we understand where we are all in this together to have a public system of higher education that raises those numbers over a generation."

Conway also told the graduates to enjoy the prestige of graduating from Lindsey Wilson.

"Lindsey Wilson is an amazing, amazing institution," he said. "Look at this place now -- one of our most distinguished four-year institutions in the entire commonwealth, with amazing facilities, proud graduates, and alumni that have gone on to distinction in this state, our region and throughout the country. Lindsey Wilson is indeed on an upward arc, and as graduates of Lindsey Wilson you too are on that arc."

President Luckey makes it official for the undergraduates. by LindseyWilsonCollege

Conway received an honorary doctorate from the college's board of trustees and faculty. Also receiving an honorary doctorate was Columbia resident George Kolbenschlag. A retired Lindsey Wilson vice president and faculty member, Kolbenschlag had a distinguished career in the Navy and in the public relations profession before coming to Lindsey Wilson in 1987. He retired from the college in 2004. Since moving to Columbia, Kolbenschlag and his wife, Yvonne, have been among Adair County's most active citizens.

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Click here to see more than 650 pictures from 2012 winter commencement.
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Click here to watch the ceremony on Stretch Internet. Go to "On Demand" and select the winter commencement ceremony.
Click here for pictures from the School of Professional Counseling pinning ceremonies at the community campuses.