More than 317 students accepted their degrees at our Sarasota campus during spring commencement on Saturday, May 12, at the Bradenton Area Convention Center. An audience of proud parents,  other family members and friends, along with Keiser University faculty and staff cheered the 2018 graduating class.

 

“Graduation is always an exciting time for not only our graduates, but for us as a University.  To share in the successes of our students as they graduate and more importantly assisting them with placement in their new high demand career field just reaffirms what we do day in and day out to meet the needs in our community and help change the lives of our students.  Their excitement at graduation is absolutely contagious.” Campus President Dr. Michele Morgan said.

 

The student speaker for this graduating class is John Swartz, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice degree. John enrolled at Keiser University back in 2005 in the AACJ program, but had to withdraw in 2006 because due to being deployed for 3 years.  While out on deployment, John served as Sergeant of the guard at a detention facility in Afghanistan.  In 2014, he re-enrolled back in to the AACJ program, which he completed and graduated from in 2015 and continued right in to the Bachelor’s degree – all of this while working a full time job as sergeant at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

 

When we asked John what are his daily responsibilities at his current job he said, “As the Sergeant, my responsibilities included safety and security of youth in my facility, mentoring young adults, effectively communicating, and training with the officers under my command.  I assisted in the successful completion of steam lining the recruit training process.” John is currently enrolled in the Master’s degree in Criminal Justice.

 

The valedictorian for this graduating class was Roger Merritt, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics degree. The salutatorian Matthew Ruffner earned Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics. This year’s commencement speaker was Representative Wengay “Newt” Newton, a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 70.

 

For more than 40 years, Keiser University has been a talent development leader providing over 100 doctoral through associate degrees in workforce shortage areas in Florida’s targeted industries. Keiser’s “students first” philosophy combines foundational skills, leadership preparation, financial literacy, student support services – including tutoring, writing and math labs. Campuses throughout the state provide convenient scheduling options for students, many of whom are working adults.