Congratulations on completing your WKU degree. I am proud of each and every one of you. I hope that I and our faculty and staff, have served you well as you have pursued and completed your WKU course of study.

I look forward to seeing you at Commencement on May 13 and 14. You will be among the 2,564 students who graduate this spring. There is not a more special moment for you, your family and friends than to walk across that red carpet and experience the symbolic culmination of your years of hard work.   I hope you enjoy that special moment as much as I will enjoy greeting you in Diddle Arena.

You are now joining some 120,000 WKU alumni, and your next chapter as a Hilltopper is about to begin. This chapter will be influenced by a lifelong love affair with a very special university that will be there for you as much in the future as it has been these last few years. Stay loyal, protect and defend your university, and keep that special WKU spirit at the center of your universe.

I am confident that we have prepared you well for your personal and professional lives. Work hard, serve your family well, be engaged in your community, be a global citizen and lead people to do things they did not otherwise think was possible. That is what Hilltoppers do. Always know as you bring distinction to yourself and to those with whom you live, work and play, you will also bring distinction to WKU.

Thank you for continuing to strengthen your own name and our university’s strong reputation. We look forward to following your progress and counting you among our many successful alumni.

Congratulations! See you on Commencement weekend!

Go Toppers!