Posted on Friday, April 24, 2026
From the pulpit to the graduation platform, Resident Bishop Robin Dease, who leads the Georgia Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church, including the North Georgia and South Georgia conferences, will share an inspirational address for the Class of 2026 at the 195th commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 9, at 8:30 a.m., at the Residential Quad.
A native of New York, she received her bachelor’s degree at Clafin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry in Stewardship at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. In addition, Bishop Dease taught courses as an adjunct professor and then chair of the religion and philosophy department at Clafin University.
She made history in 2023 as the first African American bishop to serve the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Previously, Bishop Dease served as pastor and district superintendent in the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.
In 2024, she became bishop of the new Georgia Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church. A year later, she received the Silver Torch Award, a national recognition presented to recipients who have given faithful service to The United Methodist Church at the regional, national or international level.
At LC, Bishop Dease serves on the Board of Trustees.
This year’s ceremony will also honor Distinguished Service Alumni Award Recipient Spencer King ’00.
An LC Computer Science graduate, he has spent more than two decades since giving back to the college that shaped him.
On the Hill, King brings a steady and committed presence, serving as a current member of the Alumni Executive Council, past president of the Alumni Association, and an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees. As a student, he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, the Student Government Association and Hilltoppers.
For 25 years, King has worked at the Chick-fil-A Corporate Support Center in Atlanta, where he has built a career in Information Technology, rising to Senior Principal Team Leader in the Infrastructure and Network group. He exudes the same spirit of servant leadership at his work, championing a people-first culture, mentoring his team and delivering results with integrity.
King extends his service into the community of Smyrna, Georgia, where he and his wife, Meg, are raising their three children, Hattie, Philip and Sam. He volunteers as a little league baseball coach and serves as an Elder and children’s church teacher at Smyrna Presbyterian Church.
Anderson described the experience as “a great team building experience.” “It required us to collaborate with our peers to ensure we were properly prepared for our oral arguments and to collaborate about our research.”
Burton said the competition helped her come out of her shell. “At first, I felt nervous about public speaking, but once the time came to do it, I started to get excited,” she said. “Watching everyone go before me kind of gave me an adrenaline rush because it was exciting!”
Hiers and Shivers, who both aspire to become attorneys, said the debates served as great preparation for them.
“This experience taught me how to properly research and prepare myself for the courtroom one day,” Hiers said.
“It taught me to think quickly, pay attention to detail, and to be creative, because those are all things that attorneys need to be successful,” Shivers said.
Solomon Morgan Album Release Concert
Tuesday, April 28
6 p.m., Price Theater
LC Film Showcase
Thursday, April 30
6 p.m., Beason Recital Hall, West Side
SGA Service and BSU Study Night
Thursday, April 30
7:30 p.m., Corn Auditorium, Lewis Library
3-Elissa Lawson, Admissions
4-Anthony Wilson, English Writing & Publication Studies
6-Mark Yates, Biology
6-Hannah Godfrey, Admissions
7-Sarah Jones, Nursing
8-DJ Hayes, Athletics (Sports Information)
9-Aaron Feyes, Athletics (Men’s and Women’s Golf)
11-Rosie Bolan, Counseling
11-Michael Stein, Music
23-Clay Bolton, Sports Management
23-Robby Toles, Art & Design
24-Joshua Gee, Library
27-Luke Hopper, Theatre Arts
Baseball
The Panthers are coming off their biggest win of the season as they swept nationally-ranked Piedmont College (Demorest, Georgia) last weekend, picking up three wins that saw the Panthers surge up in the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) standings with their regular-season ending series against Maryville College (Maryville, Tennessee) yet to come. Due to projected inclement weather on Saturday, the Panthers’ series against the Scots of Maryville will now be as follows: The series opens at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium on Thursday, April 23, at 7 p.m. LC Senior Day will begin on Friday, April 24, at 1:30 p.m., where the Panthers will recognize their senior class from this year’s team. After the ceremony, LaGrange and Maryville will play at 2 p.m. Friday, which is now a doubleheader. Friday’s game two is tentatively scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. No games will be played on Saturday.
Sophomore Josiah Chiesa was named CCS Pitcher of the Week. He was instrumental in the Panthers come-from-behind wins over Piedmont last weekend, entering both games in relief and throwing a combined four-and-two-thirds shutout innings, striking out six and allowing no hits.
Freshman Tanner Morneau was named CCS Rookie of the Week. Last weekend, he batted .533 (8-for-15), scoring six runs while driving in six more. Morneau recorded a double and a triple, drew two walks and added a stolen base, while also finishing the week with a perfect fielding percentage in center field.
Softball
LC travels to Belhaven University (Jackson, Mississippi) on Saturday, April 25, for their regular season ending doubleheader. The team is currently in a three-way tie for third place in the CCS standings, enjoying their best season since joining the conference. Senior pitcher and second baseman Claire Chamberlain leads the team at the plate with a .324 batting average with 12 walks and 11 RBI while pitching with a 3.77 ERA.
Tennis
Freshman Michaela Krajcovicova has been named the CCS Rookie of the Week. She turned in a perfect week in singles play, going 2-0 at the No. 2 position with a pair of straight-set victories.
Lacrosse
The Panthers picked up a major win in the form of a heroic 13-11 victory over visiting William Peace University on Saturday, April 18, at Callaway Stadium. The win took place during the team's Senior Day game, as they edged the Pacers in the final minutes.
Track and Field
Photo Credit: Nico Klementzos
The Panthers competed in the CCS Championships this week. In just their first season as a program, they took home six first-place gold medals with three more top-three finishes.
Freshman Ryheem Mighten dominated the men’s 400-meter dash on Wednesday, destroying his own school record with a 47.81 to claim the first-place medal, shaving 1.19 off his previous best time. At press time, Mighten’s time ranked him 15th in the nation. He later won the men's 200-meter dash finals, posting a time of 21.57. Freshman Khristian Bell picked up the first CCS gold medal in school history on Tuesday when she came in first in the women’s long jump with a career-best mark of 5.22 meters. Bell later took first in the women’s triple jump with 11.16 meters, breaking her own LaGrange record. Freshman A’mya Hill claimed first in the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 12.32, winning her first individual medal. In the women’s 4 x 100-meter relay on Wednesday, the Panthers would again demonstrate their speed as the quartet of Bell, Hill, freshman Kevanique Hill and freshman Jillian Coney took first place with a school-record time of 49.59.
Freshman Roman Brown was named CCS Track Rookie of the Week. Brown finished fourth in the men’s 400-meter dash with a time of 50.18 at the CCS Championships.
(Please note that schedules may change due to circumstances beyond our control. Please check www.lagrangepanthers.com to confirm.)
Friday, April 24 – Baseball (Home) vs. Maryville College (Maryville, Tennessee), 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium
Saturday, April 25 – Softball at Belhaven University, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Jackson, Mississippi
Monday, April 27 – Men’s Golf at CCS Championship, Dalton, Georgia
Tuesday, April 28 – Men’s Golf at CCS Championship, Dalton, Georgia
Wednesday, April 29 – Men’s Golf at CCS Championship, Dalton, Georgia
Wednesday, April 29 – Softball vs. TBD (CCS Championship Opening Round), TBD, Oxford, Alabama
Wednesday, April 29 – Baseball vs. TBD (CCS Championship Opening Round), TBD, Pearl, Mississippi
Thursday, April 30 – Softball vs. TBD (CCS Championship Quarterfinals), TBD, Oxford, Alabama
Thursday, April 30 – Baseball vs. TBD (CCS Championship Quarterfinals), TBD, Pearl, Mississippi
Category: College, Events, Community
Keywords: Commencement, Religion
