SWU to Award More Than 300 Degrees

Southern Wesleyan University graduates, their family members and friends will gather at the university’s campus in Central on May 10 and 11 for three commencement ceremonies.

The speaker will be Rev. Ken Dupin, who has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor for 31 years. In mid-life, Dupin returned to college, earning a bachelor’s degree in business, a master’s degree in diplomatic studies and a certificate of advanced studies from Temple University School of Business and Law in Tokyo. He is currently working on completion of his Ph.D. research at the International School of Management in Paris.

In 2008, Dupin founded N2Care, a result of his Ph.D. research and his passion for issues affecting the aging population. N2Care’s team under Dupin’s leadership created the MEDCottage, an innovation the media has affectionately called the “granny pod.” The MEDCottage has been featured in The Washington Post, CBS Evening News, Reader’s Digest, The London Ledger, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, the Colbert Report, The New York Times and Al Riyadh News in Saudi Arabia. The MEDCottage was noted by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 2011’s 100 Brilliant Ideas.

Dupin holds four patents and numerous copyrights for high-tech devices that enhance life for those who are aging and others with various health issues. This includes a virtual companion that assists with daily activities and a camera/software system that detects human falls while maintaining a high level of privacy.

Dupin studied for four years at Southern Wesleyan University. Today, he is a research fellow at Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center, where he devotes much of his time to writing and publishing work on engineering new medical environments focused on pathogen containment and protecting compromised immune systems.

Dupin has been married for 41 years to his wife, Joy, who worked in the SWU Admissions Office during their college days. They have a son, John, daughter, Faith, and six grandchildren. He is entering his thirteenth year as pastor at Salem Wesleyan Church in Salem, Va.         

The May 2013 Graduation Exercises of Southern Wesleyan University will be held in Newton Hobson Chapel and Fine Arts Center on the Southern Wesleyan University campus in Central, S.C.

According to Rock McCaskill, the university’s registrar, more than 300 degrees will be awarded.

Students graduating from the university’s traditional program will participate in the ceremony on Friday, May 10, at 3 p.m. Students graduating from the university’s Adult and Graduate Studies programs in all locations will participate in two separate ceremonies Saturday, May 11. The 10 a.m. ceremony on May 11 is for students earning associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees from the Central, Greenville, Greenwood and Spartanburg locations. The 3 p.m. ceremony on May 11 is for students earning associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees from the Columbia, Charleston and North Augusta locations.

For details, call Southern Wesleyan University’s Academic Records Department at (864) 644-5530. Tickets, issued through the university, are required for those attending the ceremonies on May 10. For guests without tickets, overflow seating is available, which will allow guests without tickets to view the ceremony via a closed circuit broadcast. Details are available at http://www.swu.edu/academics/academic-records/graduation/ .

Other end-of-semester events at Southern Wesleyan University include Baccalaureate Chapel on May 10 at 10 a.m. in Newton Hobson Chapel and Fine Arts Center.

The baccalaureate sermon will be delivered by Lt. Col. Mike Rash. Rash is the Wing Chaplain at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nev. Nellis is home to five Wings, 50-plus tenant organizations, 13,000 active duty Air Force personnel, 313,000  dependents, retirees and veterans. Nellis is also home to the world-famous Thunderbirds. A native of Lincolnton, N.C., Rash initially joined the United States Air Force in 1978 and completed a four-year enlistment as an E3-A AWACS Radio Operator. In 1995, after college and seminary, he re-entered the Air Force as an active duty chaplain. He is an ordained Elder in the North Carolina West District of The Wesleyan Church. Chaplain Rash and his wife, Kathy, have two daughters attending Southern Wesleyan University.

With regional education centers conveniently located across South Carolina, as well as fully online programs for select degrees, Southern Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered, student-focused learning community devoted to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for Christ.