Nearly 700 students will graduate from Columbus State University this week at CSU’s 115th Commencement. Graduates will be presented by their college at three commencement ceremonies on Dec. 15 and 16 at the CSU Lumpkin Center.

The College of the Arts and Turner College of Business ceremony will be at 4 p.m. on Dec. 15. The College of Education and Health Professions ceremony will be at 10 a.m. on Dec. 16, and the College of Letters and Sciences ceremony will be at 3 p.m on Dec. 16. Each ceremony will be live-streamed online at https://graduation.columbusstate.edu/.

Betsy Whitaker Covington, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley, Inc. is the commencement speaker for the ceremonies. Since joining the Foundation in 2001, Covington has helped the organization grow from $7 million in assets to more than $150 million. With her experience in enabling and promoting philanthropy, she will speak on the power of working together.

At the ceremonies, CSU will award an honorary doctorate to Donald L. Jordan, a local author and businessman. Jordan began writing at the age of fourteen and has published non-fiction, short stories and novels. In 2016, he established an endowment at CSU to encourage and promote writing among students.