Williams Baptist University is set to graduate nearly 100 students on Saturday, May 5. Â Commencement will be held in the Southerland-Mabee Center and will begin at 10 a.m.
The 2018 ceremony will mark the institution’s final graduation as a college, as WBU will officially become Williams Baptist University this summer.
Williams’s own Dr. Sheri Midkiff will deliver the commencement address.  Midkiff, a professor of English, is also a 1971 graduate. She has served at Williams for 43 years and will enter retirement at the end of the semester.  Midkiff was recently named faculty emeritus by the Williams Board of Trustees. Her husband, Dr. David Midkiff, also taught at Williams and retired in 2015. Â
WBU’s Golden Eagles, alumni who attended Williams 50 or more years ago, will also be honored at the ceremony. As has become tradition at the Williams commencement exercises, the Golden Eagles will march in with this year’s graduates.
Graduation is open to the public.
Williams is a Christian, liberal arts university in Walnut Ridge.