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Southeastern University (SEU) will hold its Spring 2023 Commencement ceremony on Friday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the RP Funding Center. The ceremony will feature guest speaker Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), and President’s Award recipient Senator Colleen Burton.
The spring class of 2023 is the university’s 86th graduating class. With a total of 943 graduates, the spring class brings the total number of SEU graduates up to 23,200. Over 680 graduates will be participating in the ceremony.
Graduates originate from Florida, 44 other states and 18 countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Italy, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and more. A large portion of graduates also come from 83 of the university’s partner site locations.
In addition, three graduates have completed the SEU Link Program, an inclusive, post-secondary education program designed for young adult students with mild intellectual disabilities.
Commencement speaker Hoogstra serves as president, chief advocate and storyteller for the CCCU, an educational organization that represents over 185 colleges and associations across the globe. She ensures that CCCU institutions are able to accomplish their main mission of teaching students through a faith-based worldview. Hoogstra is a speaker, writer and advocate for higher education. She has spoken at conferences and colleges nationwide and has been quoted in the Washington Post, the New York Times and World Magazine.
Senator Burton will be receiving the President’s Award during the ceremony in recognition of her work in the Florida legislature. Elected to the Florida Senate in 2022, Burton had previously served eight years in the Florida House of Representatives. She is currently the chair of the Health Policy Committee and the vice chair of the Judiciary Committee. Burton also sits on several other committees and was appointed to the Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council.
The ceremony is open to graduates and ticketed guests and will be livestreamed at https://seu.edu/academics/graduation/.