MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) is preparing to celebrate its newest alumni when almost 1,600 new graduates receive their degrees Saturday, December 14, during the 2024 fall commencement ceremonies.

Held in Hale/Earle Arena inside Murphy Center at 2650 Middle Tennessee Blvd., the first of two public ceremonies will be held at 9 a.m. Central when degrees will be conferred to graduate students and undergrads in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences and College of Education Congratulatory remarks will be offered by MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee at both ceremonies.

The guest speaker for the morning ceremony will be Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Peggy Chabrian, a longtime aviation enthusiast and educator who is the founder of Women in Aviation International and served as its president and CEO for 25 years.

The afternoon ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Central when degrees will be conferred to graduate students and undergrads in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, College of Liberal Arts, College of Media and Entertainment and University College.

The afternoon speaker will be alumnus Byron Smith, managing director of the Mountain Group Partners who boasts a distinguished career across a variety of industries. He began his career in brand management and marketing for two premier companies: Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo, before eventually moving to Silicon Valley where, as a senior executive at Asurion, he led the company’s headquarters relocation to Nashville.

For those unable to attend in person, the event also will stream live at https://mtsu.edu/live and on the university’s Facebook channel, https://facebook.com/mtsublueraiders, and will be broadcast on MTSU’s “True Blue TV” station on local cable channels and at https://mtsu.edu/TrueBlueTV.

Of the 1,593 students set to graduate, 1,319 are undergraduates and 274 are graduate students, including 240 master’s candidates, 20 education-specialist candidates and 14 doctoral candidates. In addition, seven graduate students will be receiving graduate certificates, and 16 undergraduate students will be receiving undergraduate certificates, according to the university’s Registrar’s Office.

With the fall 2024 commencement ceremony, MTSU will have awarded approximately 187,700 degrees to its students, including associate, bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees, since its 1911 founding. •

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