Clayton State Commencement Ceremonies Saturday at 9 a.m. and Noon

Clayton State University’s will hold its 38th Annual Spring Commencement on Saturday, May 10, 2008.

As has been the case for the past several years, Clayton State will hold two ceremonies. The first, starting at 9 a.m., will be for graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences. A total of 195 graduates are expected to participate. The second ceremony, scheduled for a noon start, will be for the graduates of the School of Business, the College of Information and Mathematical Sciences, the College of Professional Studies, and the School of Nursing. A total of 207 graduates are expected to participate in the second ceremony. Both ceremonies will be held in the University’s Athletics and Fitness Center.

The Honorable Michael Baird will serve as the commencement speaker. Baird was a member of the first baccalaureate class of Clayton State University, earning a B.B.A. in Management (1989). He is also a 1992 graduate of the Georgia State University College of Law where he earned a Juris Doctorate. A native of Clayton County, Baird worked his way through college as a police officer with the Lake City Police Department.

He served as a prosecutor in Clayton County after graduating from law school. In 1996, he was elected to serve as the chief judge of the Magistrate Court of Clayton County and served in that capacity until January of 2005 when he was appointed a senior judge. Baird served as the chairman of the Georgia Magistrate Court Training Council and on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Continuing Judicial Education at the University of Georgia. In addition to his duties in the court room, Baird taught in the School of Business at Clayton State for 13 years.

The University’s senior faculty member, and a 37-year veteran of Clayton State, Professor of English Dr. Thomas V. Barnett, will once again serve as the faculty marshal for both ceremonies.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.


John Shiffert
Director of University Relations
Clayton State University