ACU will award 840 degrees this weekend in three Commencement ceremonies taking place at Moody Coliseum Friday and Saturday.

The Friday, May 10, ceremony at 7 p.m. will award 246 master’s and 53 doctoral degrees. On Saturday, May 11, 541 bachelor’s degrees will be presented in two ceremonies – 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

Undergraduate degree candidates from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the College of Biblical Studies; and the Onstead College of Science and Engineering will participate in the 10 a.m. ceremony. Undergraduate degree candidates from the College of Business Administration, the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, and the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences will participate in the 2 p.m. ceremony. 

Dr. Christopher W. Cobbler Sr., executive director of the Center for Vocational Formation and dean of vocational formation at ACU Dallas, will give the charge to the graduate class at the Friday ceremony. Michael Miller, a 1999 alumnus of ACU and the founder and senior pastor of UPPERROOM, will give the charge to the undergraduate class at both ceremonies on Saturday.

All three ceremonies will be livestreamed; visit acu.edu/commencement for more information.  

Outlive Your Life Award

In both Saturday ceremonies, Abilenian Nancy Miller will be awarded the Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life Award. Miller, a 1960 ACU graduate, began leading Christian Homes & Family Services in Abilene, which has served unwed pregnant mothers and helped place children for adoption since 1962. As executive director, she led its growth over 40 years, placing nearly 2,000 babies and children into adoptive homes, providing maternity assistance for more than 2,700 women, and care for more than 1,770 foster children.

In 1987 she was one of the first women elected to Kiwanis International membership. She eventually became a board member, vice president and twice the president (1993-94 and 2017-18) of its Abilene Club, and twice was voted governor of the Texas-Oklahoma Kiwanis district (2001-02 and 2008-09).

Miller is a longtime member of Highland Church of Christ and has been a member of Women for Abilene Christian University since 1969 and served as president for 14 years. She was named 1997 Outstanding Alumna of the Year for ACU and received a Distinguished Alumni Citation in 1982.

The Outlive Your Life Award is named for its first recipients, Dale and Rita Brown, and for the book by ACU alumnus Max Lucado, Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference. The award recognizes all types of servant leadership exhibited by friends or alumni of the university.

— Wendy Kilmer

May 8, 2024