East Georgia State College will hold its Fall Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, December 11 at 10 a.m. The ceremony will be held in the Gymnasium in Swainsboro. Friends and family of the graduates are welcome to attend the event. The speaker for the ceremony is Dr. Mary Waalkes, a professor of history at EGSC-Augusta. Ben Beverly, a Correll Scholar at EGSC, will perform “God Bless America.”
Mary Waalkes received her PhD from the University of Colorado specializing in U.S. history and focusing on the South and on African American history. She currently teaches U. S. history survey and Western Civilization at EGSC-Augusta.
Dr. Waalkes serves on various college committees, including recently working with colleagues on the Quality Enhancement Plan. Dr. Waalkes served from 2017 to 2019 as a board member for the Georgia Association of Historians. She previously taught at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia, and at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. She co-authored an article on civil rights in the Chattanooga/Cleveland/and Polk County, Tennessee area, which was published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly. She lives in North Augusta, South Carolina with her twin sister, four cats, and a dog.
Ben Beverly is an 18-year-old freshman at EGSC. He plans to pursue a degree to become a science educator. He is a Correll Scholar and participates in the Bobcat Buddies Program, a tutoring and mentoring program for elementary school kids. Beverly is a Vidalia High School graduate and the son of Scott and Kaysi Beverly of Lyons, Ga. He enjoys singing with his church praise and worship team at First Assembly of God in Vidalia.
East Georgia State College looks forward to celebrating its graduates!
