By North Callahan, Senior Director of Marketing, Concordia College

Apr. 20, 2016:  Concordia College's outgoing president, Dr. Viji George, will be the featured commencement speaker at Concordia College's 135th commencement exercises on Saturday, May 14.

Dr. George, who is in his seventeenth year as president of the college, will end his tenure on June 30.

Under his leadership, the college has experienced dramatic enrollment growth, along with the addition of many academic programs. Overall student enrollment is up 11.5% over last year, and the college has experienced a 33% increase in total enrollment in the last six years.

This year's graduate program enrollment is up 113%, and the overall student population has become a very diverse group, with students hailing from 30 states and 31 countries, including China, India, South Korea, Spain, Norway, and Italy.

During Dr. George's tenure, new master's degree programs were introduced in accounting, analytics, digital marketing, and digital media, new online programs were introduced in early childhood education and childhood education, and an RN-to-BS program was introduced for registered nurses to complete their bachelor's degrees.

The college has also recently created eleven new academic program transfer pathways through articulation agreements with Westchester Community College.

The schedule of commencement events is as follows:

9:00 am to 10:00 am:  Refreshments in the Commons

10:30 am to 11:30 am:  The Baccalaureate in the Sommer Center for Worship and the Performing Arts

11:45 am to 1:15 pm:  Luncheon in the Commons

2:00 pm  Commencement on the Quad

Pictured here:  Dr. Viji George.

Photo courtesy Concordia College