News and Updates

SGSC 2015 Commencement Ceremonies

South Georgia State College is pleased to celebrate the academic achievements of its graduating class of 2015 during the annual commencement ceremonies to be held on both campuses. The Douglas Campus ceremony will be held on the front lawn of Peterson Hall on May 7, 2015, at 9:00 am. The Waycross Campus ceremony will be held in the gymnasium on May 8, 2015, at 7:00 pm.

Chris Clark, President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, will be the commencement speaker for the Douglas Campus ceremony

The speaker for the Douglas ceremony is Chris Clark, President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. A Georgia native, he received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and his master’s degree in public administration from Georgia College and State University. Prior to joining the Chamber, he served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and as Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Economic Development.

Clark is currently Chair of the Council of State Chambers’ State Chamber Policy Center and sits on the boards of the Technical College System of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Governor’s Rural Development Council and the Georgia Academy for Economic Development. Clark is a Trustee of Georgia Southern University and a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Georgia. He is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and has been consistently named one of Georgia Trend magazine’s 100 most influential Georgians and by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the 100 most influential Atlantans. He was also honored to receive the Georgia Economic Developers Association Zell Miller Public Policy Leadership Award in 2013. He and his wife, Tiffany, and their son, Christian, live in Peachtree City.

The Waycross ceremony speaker is State Senator Tyler Harper, a lifelong resident of Irwin County. He currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee and serves as a member of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment, Public Safety, and Retirement Committees. Senator Harper has been named a “Defender of Liberty” by the American Conservatives Union and has been selected by GOPAC as one of twenty Emerging Leaders, a program comprised of promising state legislators from across the country. Senator Harper is a 2013 Graduate of Leadership Georgia and a 2013 Graduate of the Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute.

State Senator Tyler Harper will be the commencement speaker for the Waycross Campus ceremony.

Harper is a product of Irwin County Schools, a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Engineering (BSAE), and also holds an Associate of Science Degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. As an active community leader, Senator Harper is the immediate Past President of the Ocilla Rotary Club and the Secretary of the Georgia Young Farmer's Association. Senator Harper served as a member of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) Strategic Planning Committee and as a volunteer for the CAES Alumni Association. Senator Harper is also a former member of the Ben Hill-Irwin Joint Development Authority.

Please be advised that West College Park Drive on the Douglas Campus will be closed May 7 from 7 a.m. until noon due to the Douglas Campus ceremony. The public is welcome at both ceremonies to help SGSC celebrate the achievements of the class of 2015.