BILL ATCHLEY WILL DELIVER SEMO COMMENCEMENT TALK

Dr. Bill Atchley, president of Southeast Missouri State University, will address graduating students at the fall commencement ceremony Saturday in the Show Me Center.

Commencement exercises are set for 2 p.m., during which 541 undergraduates and 41 graduate students will receive diplomas.

Due to the elimination of summer commencement exercises for undergraduates, both summer and fall undergraduates will participate.

Leading the class of undergraduates are Andrea Richardson-Hodges of Bonne Terre and Charlotte Westbrook of Farmington, who will both graduate with 4.0 grade-point averages. Richardson-Hodges will receive a bachelor of science degree in education and Westbrook will graduate with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice.

Other top graduates are Sunny Ray Mattingly of Harrisburg, Ill., who holds a 3.976 grade-point average and will graduate with a bachelor of science degree in education; Victoria Woods of Cape Girardeau, who has a 3.963 grade-point average and will graduate with a bachelor of science in nursing and a bachelor of general studies degree; Audrey Bruckerhoff of St. Mary, who holds a 3.945 grade-point average and will graduate with a bachelor of science degree in social work.

Two students -- Stacy Webb of Pekin, Ill., and Michelle Wiseman of Cape Girardeau -- will graduate with "academic distinction" in their majors.

Webb will graduate with bachelor of science degree in historic preservation; Wiseman will graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in psychology.

The two students have completed special projects and 75 credit hours of course work with at least a 3.25 grade-point average in their major department and at least a 3.0 overall grade-point average.

Twelve members of Phi Kappa Phi international honor society will be recognized.

Eighty-seven undergraduates and 18 graduate students will be recognized at a honors convocation at 11 a.m. Saturday in Academic Auditorium. The undergraduates have achieved at least a 3.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. The graduate students have achieved at least a 3.8 average.

Dr. Michael Brown, criminal justice professor and associate dean of the College of Health and Human Services, will address the honors students.