R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy 2022 Convocation

Congratulations to the Class of 2022!

We celebrated our graduates at our convocation ceremony on May 13th at beautiful Centennial Hall. Convocation is already a special event and this year was even more special because our college is celebrating our 75th Anniversary! 

Dr. Jeannie Lee, Assistant Dean for Student Services served as our Master of Ceremonies for Friday's special event and opened the ceremony by explaining the significance of the medallion that was given to each graduate. "This medallion was created especially for our graduates to commemorate your graduation from the Coit College of Pharmacy. The logo on the medallion was designed by one of our alumni in 1967 and includes the Bowl of Hygiea, a common symbol associated with pharmacy. The logo was used to create the medallion that has been given to our graduates since celebrating our 50th anniversary in 1997." Dr. Lee asked the graduates to place the medallion around their neck and wear it with pride.

Dean Rick Schnellmann had words of wisdom to share with our graduates about change and opportunity. "As I consider your transition from students to your professional career or the next step in your education, I think about change - the life-altering changes you experienced the past two years during the COVID 19 pandemic and how much change you will experience in your life. Often, people are afraid of change because they are happy in their comfort zone. The idea of change is frightening, and they resist it.  Without change though, nothing happens. Think of change as an opportunity. During any process of change in an organization or throughout your life, new jobs, promotions, and projects will become available. These are opportunities for you! However, if you don’t immediately see an opportunity, then create one. Be the change you wish to see. Graduates, I am confident that you will cultivate your talents and embrace change to find your passion and that you will accept and excel in an era of rapid changes."

Our BSPS program graduated 57 students this year. The Pharmaceutical Sciences major launched in Fall 2018, which means that this is the first graduating class to experience the full rollout of the program. Many of this year’s graduates have been with us since their freshman year, which is a first for us!

Our first PharmD graduation class was in 1985! With our 2022 PharmD graduates, we will have graduated 2478 students from the PharmD program and our 2022 graduating class is 130 pharmacists strong!

Our graduate program has seven Master of Science Graduates and four PhD Graduates this year. 

Congratulations again, graduates, and we can't wait to hear about your careers as R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy Alumni!