MSU 2022 Spring Commencement is May 14

Morehead State University has announced details for the upcoming Spring Commencement.   

Two commencement ceremonies will be held for spring and summer graduates on Saturday, May 14, in the Academic-Athletic Center (AAC).     

Tickets will be required for guests attending the ceremony. Each degree candidate participating in the ceremony can bring 12 guests. Ceremony times are below:   

• 10 a.m. - Caudill College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Elmer R. Smith College of Business and Technology 
  • Stream time: 9:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m. 
  • LINK: https://ovcdigitalnetwork.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Live=7008 
• 1 p.m. - College of Science, and Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education 
  • Stream time: 12:45  p.m.-2:45 p.m. 
  • LINK: https://ovcdigitalnetwork.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Live=7009 

The student speakers for the 2022 Spring Commencement are Sarah Elizabeth Franklin and Gabria W. Sexton.   

Sarah Elizabeth Franklin of Mt. Washington is the commencement speaker representing the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education. She will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Education with dual certification in Elementary Education (P-5) and Moderate to Severe Disabilities (K-12).  

Franklin held the office of president and scholarship chair for Sigma Alpha sorority. She was treasurer of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) chapter at MSU, an organization providing networking to future special education teachers and opportunities for community outreach to students with disabilities. She was selected to represent MSU at the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children Conference in Fall 2021. That same year, the Kentucky Reading Association (KRA) Conference chose her to attend as a Pre-service Ambassador for Literacy.   

Starting in February 2021, Franklin served as a caretaker for Seven Counties in Louisville and Pathways Inc. In Morehead. She worked with clients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and Down Syndrome in these positions. She also served as a daycare teacher for the Bluegrass Academy Childcare Center from 2019 to 2021.   

Upon graduation, Franklin plans to pursue a career in special education, working with students with disabilities.  

Gabria W. Sexton of Morehead is the commencement speaker representing the Caudill College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. She will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in gender studies.   

Sexton originally attended Morehead State University in 1989 before entering the workforce and starting a family. She attended community college to become a licensed medical office assistant.    

Morehead State hired Sexton in 2000 and she has held various roles, including academic department specialist, a program assistant and a communications and business manager. Her current role is as an administrative assistant to the associate provost of the Office of Undergraduate Education and Student Success. 

She returned to MSU as a transfer student in 2004 and earned an Associate of Arts in University Studies in 2007. She re-enrolled at MSU in the summer of 2019 to earn her bachelor’s degree and will graduate with a 4.0 GPA.    

Sexton will continue her education at MSU by earning a Master of Arts in Sociology with a Chemical Dependency Concentration with plans to pursue careers in either education or counseling. She and her husband Joe have two sons, Jesse (age 31) and Jayden (age 21), and one grandson, Blake Webb (age 2).  

For more information on MSU’s 2022 Spring Commencement and live stream the ceremonies, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/graduation.