(St. George, UT) - Dixie State College of Utah will celebrate its largest graduating class ever at its 101st Commencement Exercises on Friday, May 4, at 10:00AM in the Avenna Center Burns Arena. Graduates will begin the Processional at 9:20AM, marching from DSC’s Eccles Fine Arts Center down the palm-lined walkway to the Burns Arena. The community is invited to participate in all commencement activities.

To date, the college is slated to confer an even 1,700 degrees, 141 more than last year, including a record 503 baccalaureate degrees, a 23 percent increase from a year ago (409 bachelor’s degrees), along with a record 1,197 associate degrees, which bests the previous record of 1,150 set last year (4.1% increase from 2010-11). In addition, 242 vocational and technical certificates will be awarded.

Of the record 503 baccalaureate degrees to be conferred, more than half (287) of the graduates will come from four of DSC’s four-year programs – communication (95), business administration (71), integrated studies (63) and elementary education (58). In all, students will be graduating in 19 of DSC’s four-year degree programs, including the first-ever graduating class in criminal justice (three graduates).

Eight foreign countries and 29 states are represented in the Class of 2012, while 87.5 percent of DSC’s graduates (1,489 students) call Utah home. Washington County natives make up nearly 60 percent of Dixie’s graduating class (1,005), with 28 of the state’s 29 counties represented overall. Female graduates constitute 56.5 percent of the class and the class ranges in age from 16 to 64.

This year’s graduating class also features fourth class of high school students who will be awarded an associate degree as part of the Southern Utah Center for Computer, Engineering, and Science Students (SUCCESS) Academy program. The SUCCESS Academy is a state-approved early college high school in partnership with Washington County School District and Dixie State College. This academically rigorous and challenging program provides students the opportunity to earn an associate degree through an on-campus college curriculum while also completing their high school graduation requirements at their boundary high school. The Success Academy on the DSC campus began in the fall of 2006 and to date, 179 students have completed the program to earn their associate degrees, including 38 students this year.

Jordan Rich, a senior business administration major from Hurricane, Utah, will serve as the Baccalaureate Degree Valedictorian commencement speaker, while Bonnie Lish, a sophomore accounting major from Mantua, Utah, will speak on behalf of the Associate Degree class.

One honorary doctorate degrees will be awarded during the exercises, with commencement speaker and Dixie College alum Dr. Gregory A. Prince receiving the honor. In addition, Elvin M. “Andy” Anderson, Valerie B. Johnson, Bradford R. Rich, and Gloria Shakespeare will receive Distinguished Citizen Awards.

In addition, the ceremony will be available via free live streaming video on DSC’s website and broadcast live on Dixie’s Community Education Channel (CEC). The ceremony will also be shown on a taped-delay basis on CEC throughout the month of May and on KUEN-TV on Thursday, May 17th, at 8:00PM.

Following the Centennial Commencement ceremony, DSC will host six individual college convocations in two sessions, where graduates will be individually recognized and awarded their diplomas. The Associate Degree convocation will be held following the Commencement ceremony in the Burns Arena beginning at 11:45 a.m. Then at 12 noon, the School of Education and School of Science and Technology convocations will be held in the Student Activities Center (Old Gym) and Avenna Center Cox Auditorium, respectively.

Three more convocations will be held during the second session beginning at 2 p.m., including the School of Arts and Letters at the Student Activities Center (Old Gym); the Udvar-Hazy School of Business and the School of Communication at the Burns Arena; and the School of Nursing and Allied Health in the Avenna Center Cox Auditorium.

In addition, the annual Graduate Luncheon will be held that day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., in the DSC Gardner Center Ballroom. The luncheon is free to graduates, while extra tickets may be purchased for $11 for adults and $7 for children age 12-under.

Luncheon tickets are available at the DSC Avenna Center Ticket Office or by calling (435) 652-7800. For more DSC Commencement information, go to www.dixie.edu/commencement.