TAMPA – More than 175 students will receive their degrees during commencement exercises for Saint Leo University’s Tampa and MacDill AFB education centers at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 20. Of those, 78 will earn master’s degrees, 91 will earn bachelor’s degrees, and 10 will receive associate degrees.
The ceremony will be held at the Tampa Convention Center, Ballrooms A and B, 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa, FL 33602
U.S. Air Force Colonel April Vogel, commander of the 6th Air Mobility Wing and MacDill Air Force Base, will give the commencement address.
Colonel Vogel is responsible for the wing’s worldwide combat air refueling and airlift missions, and provides installation support to Headquarters U.S. Central Command, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command, and 31 other joint mission partners. As the commander, she is responsible for the security and well-being of the base’s 18,000 employees and their families, along with $2.8 billion in base property and capital assets.
Giving the Class of 2017 farewell will be two students representing the graduate program and the undergraduate program: Ronda Hooi, who will receive her Master of Business Administration degree and Heather Piperato, who will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.
Leading the new graduates in the turning of the tassels on their mortarboards and welcoming them as alumni will be Matthew Hernandez, Class of 2016.
Saint Leo’s Tampa Education Center is at Channelside, 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 238,
Tampa, FL 33602. For information, call (813) 226-2777. The university’s MacDill Education Office is at 8102 Condor St., Albert B. Arrighi Education Center, Suite 116, MacDill AFB, FL 33621. For information, call (813) 840-0259.
About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University (www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. The Saint Leo University of today is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever our students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employer’s worksite, a military base, or an office park. We welcome people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourage learners of all generations. We are committed to providing educational opportunities to our nation’s armed forces, our veterans, and their families. We are regionally accredited to award degrees ranging from the associate to the doctorate, and we guide all our students to develop their capacities for critical thinking, moral reflection, and lifelong learning and leadership.
We remain the faithful stewards of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where our founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving nearly 15,000 students, we have expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintain a physical presence in seven states. We provide highly respected online learning programs to students nationally and internationally. More than 82,000 alumni reside in all 50 states, in Washington, DC, in three U.S. territories, and in 76 countries.
Media Contact: Mary McCoy, University Writer & Media Relations, mary.mccoy02@saintleo.edu, (352) 588-7118 or cell (813) 610-8416