Mars Hill University To Celebrate Graduates on December 17

December 7, 2021

Mars Hill University will recognize about 60 summer and winter graduates during its commencement ceremony on December 17, 2021. The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Moore Auditorium. The ceremony will be livestreamed.

Student speakers will be Angie Borbon and Brett Smythe.

Student speakers will be Angie Borbon, a theatre arts major from Greenville, South Carolina, and Brett Smythe, a graduate student in criminal justice from Boca Raton, Florida.

Borbon says she has enjoyed her Mars Hill University experience, creating life-long connections with other students, professors, and staff members. She came to the university with plans to pursue her love of dance and performance, and says she’s graduating with greater opportunities than she had imagined. She currently works as a dance teacher in Asheville, and plans to take that passion for dance to an international level, traveling and teaching dance workshops in locations such as Latin America, Africa, and Europe. Borbon has been active outside the classroom, performing in theatre shows and dancing with the university dance team. She is involved with Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society, Latinx Student Association, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and has served as a Lion Life and Orientation leader.

Smythe is graduating with his second MHU degree. He earned his Bachelor of Science in criminal justice in 2020, and will receive his Master of Arts in Criminal Justice next week. He says he entered college knowing he wanted to work in law enforcement, but was unsure of the particular field he wanted to pursue. He says spending time outdoors in the mountains around campus and near the ocean in his Florida hometown convinced him to pursue a career in environmental law enforcement. He plans to work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission after graduation. Smythe says he enjoyed his experiences as a member of Mars Hill’s track and field team, and appreciates the life-long friendships he’s made. He’s especially excited to have the opportunity for his mother to see him walk across the stage. His undergraduate commencement was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he says, “To be able to accept my degree in front of my family means the world to me.”

This will be Mars Hill’s first indoor commencement since December 2019. All attendees must wear masks, under the university’s policy of requiring masks in all campus buildings.