Birmingham-Southern College Celebrates Commencement 2022

For Immediate Release
May. 20, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Birmingham-Southern College’s spring commencement ceremony celebrated 263 members of the Class of 2022 at 9 a.m. Friday, May 20 in Bill Battle Coliseum. 263 degrees were conferred – 79 Bachelor of Arts degrees, nine Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, and 175 Bachelor of Science degrees.

The featured speaker was Dr. Duane Pontius ’81, T. Morris Hackney Professor of Physics, who was named 2021 Outstanding Educator of the Year. Pontius has been a member of the BSC faculty since 1999, following a career as research scientist in space physics. His research has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of Jupiter and Saturn by exploring electromagnetic coupling between the planets’ atmospheres and their magnetospheres. He developed a theoretical model that played a role in the Cassini spacecraft’s discovery of geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and his work with two BSC physics majors resolved a long-standing puzzle about Saturn, that its rotation rate appears to vary with time.

“What follows is distilled from my advice to myself, which you’ll listen to as I talk to myself,” Pontius said to the Class of 2022. “There is great wisdom in Dostoevsky’s observation, ‘Beauty will save the world.’ Learn to seek beauty continually, and be open to what qualifies as beauty. Beauty permeates the world as peoples, as well as the ideas used to understand our place in it.”

Other platform participants included BSC President Daniel B. Coleman; BSC Board of Trustees Vice Chair Rev. Keith Thompson ’83, senior pastor of Canterbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham; alumni representative Daniel C. Potts, M.D. ’86, attending neurologist at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Tuscaloosa; and BSC Chaplain Rev. Julie Blackwelder Holly ’01.

At the ceremony, BSC Interim Provost Dr. Timothy B. Smith named Professor of Art Pamela Venz as the 2022 Outstanding Educator of the Year. Venz created the concentration in photography when she joined the Department of Art and Art History in 1998. Her work has been exhibited locally in galleries around Birmingham, regionally across the country in both galleries and museums, and internationally in the Czech Republic. Venz has played an essential role throughout her years in the growing department, including her guidance for new programs like the architectural studies program.

The commencement ceremony was the final event celebrating the achievements of the graduating class of 2022. Other events included a Capping ceremony for graduating seniors, which was held May 19 in Bill Battle Coliseum. Capping is a unique tradition at BSC, during which seniors choose a mentor or family member to place the mortarboard on their head and honor the influence they have had on them. The speaker, chosen by graduating seniors, was Dr. Joseph Chandler ’03, associate professor of psychology and director of grants and special projects. The annual Baccalaureate service was held the morning of May 19 at Canterbury United Methodist Church, and the featured speaker was BSC alumna Rabbi Simone Schicker ’11, spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Israel in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

“Each person is bound up in some struggle – every one of us – and yet, we persevere,” Chandler said in his speech. “That deep connection transcends whatever differences we may have. That deep connection exists with everyone in this room, city, state, country – everyone in the world. And it has taught me four lessons I want to share with you today: be vulnerable; be kind; be courageous; and lead in all these things.”

Spring commencement marked the end of another successful year of in-person learning following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Birmingham-Southern College:

Birmingham-Southern College is a four-year, private residential liberal arts institution in Birmingham, Ala., founded in 1856 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Learn more online at www.bsc.edu.