CONWAY, Ark. (April 15, 2014) – Hendrix College will
celebrate its 130th Commencement on Saturday, May 17, at 9 a.m. in
the Wellness and Athletics Center (WAC) event gym.
Additional seating will be available in the Recreation Gym
and in the Student Life and Technology Center (SLTC), where the ceremony will
be telecast. The graduates will process through the Recreation Gym. A
reception will follow in the Young-Wise Memorial Plaza.
Live streaming will begin at 8:45 a.m. at www.hendrix.edu/commencement.
The commencement speaker will be alumnus R. Madison Murphy,
who will also receive an honorary doctoral degree.
A 1980 Hendrix graduate, Murphy served as chair of the
Board of Trustees from 2001 until 2011. He worked closely with former President
Dr. J. Timothy Cloyd and the senior leadership team and played an integral role
in the development of Your Hendrix
Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning.
"Madison Murphy is a superb example of a Hendrix
graduate who continues to devote substantial effort to selfless public service,
and he is an outstanding role model for our students and alumni,” said Acting
President W. Ellis Arnold III. “The Hendrix community is grateful to Madison
for his leadership and generosity during a period of unprecedented progress,
and we’re pleased to present him with this special and much-deserved honor.”
In addition to his service to Hendrix, Murphy has served on
numerous civic, arts, and business boards in Arkansas and in his hometown of El
Dorado, Ark. He was a longtime member of the Arkansas State Highway Commission
and served as chairman of the Arkansas Citizens Commission to Streamline State
Government. Murphy is the 2004 National Individual Winner of the National
Wetlands Conservation Award presented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for
his work in northeast Louisiana.
Murphy is chair of Murphy USA and past chair of Murphy Oil.
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in
engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the sixth consecutive year,
Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by
U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think about Colleges,
as well as the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's list of America's Top Colleges, and
the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United
Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.