Office of Communications

Contact: Amy Batheja

Communications Specialist

Office: (817) 531-7521

abatheja@txwes.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TEXAS WESLEYAN COMMENCEMENT MAY 9

Texas Wesleyan will host graduation exercises at 7 p.m. Friday, May 9, at the Will Rogers Auditorium, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave, Fort Worth. The precommencement robing ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Friday in Polytechnic United Methodist Church, 1310 S. Collard St., Fort Worth.

Dr. Sheryl Smith Kappus will deliver the commencement address, "Everyday Leadership," for Texas Wesleyan. Kappus is the fourteenth president of Hill College and its first female president.

Kappus began her career at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where she served for 13 years and co-authored more than 20 scientific publications in microbiological research. In 1986 she was a founding faculty member of the Collin County Community College District. While with CCCCD, she served as dean of science and health, dean of mathematics and natural sciences, and vice president of academic affairs.

She has served as president of Hill College, a community college with five locations in Central Texas, since 2004. Under her leadership, Hill College has signed dual admission agreements with multiple universities, including Texas Wesleyan; opened new campus centers in Burleson and Clifton, Texas; developed new programs of study in nursing, echocardiography, surgical technology, fire science, hospitality management, biotechnology,  gas and oil exploration, athletic training, and new sports programs in men’s golf and soccer. The newest campus of Hill College will open in 2008 with a university center housing programs from five universities and a performing arts center in downtown Cleburne. Kappus opened Early College this year at the Hillsboro campus, an institute allowing high school students to graduate high school and Hill College at the same time, a first for Central Texas.

She is a member of the editorial board of the prestigious journal, Community College Review. She currently serves on the Texas Association of Community Colleges Executive Committee as the elected representative for the Central Region Colleges as well as on the TACC Legislative Committee. She also serves on many civic and public boards, including the Cleburne Economic Development Board, Tuesday Forum, Johnson County Heritage Foundation Advisory Board, Johnson County Education Foundation Board, Bill J. Priest Community College Leadership Board of Directors, Southern Association of Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges, and North Texas Community College Consortium.

Kappus is the recipient of numerous local, state, and national awards, including a scholarship named in her honor, the Dr. Sheryl Kappus Rotary Scholarship.