Graduates Begin “Lifelong Learning Journey” at HWAC Commencement
Two- and four-year graduates of Herbert W. Armstrong College received their diplomas and a vision from the institution’s leaders.
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EDMOND—For 16 seniors and 17 sophomores at Herbert W. Armstrong College, May 22 was no ordinary Sunday. Following a graduation ball three days earlier and a graduation brunch that morning, they walked the Armstrong Auditorium stage as the graduating classes of 2015-2016. Commencement exercises included a speech from the student body president, an address from the dean of students, a choral performance, and recognition of four outstanding seniors.

The Armstrong Youth Orchestra played excerpts from “Crown Imperial” as hundreds of friends and family members stood and watched 29 graduates enter the theater, each of them representing years of personal development in a college environment filled with work, classes, clubs, sporting events, music lessons and service.

As four other graduating seniors looked on via live stream from the college’s Edstone campus in Warwickshire, England, student body president Joel Hudson-Stewart delivered a short speech in Edmond, 4,548 miles away.

Hudson-Stewart spoke about the campus’s architecture and compared physical construction to the Herbert W. Armstrong College architectural process of personal development. “‘The greatest architecture at Herbert W. Armstrong College is the people!’” Hudson-Stewart said, quoting a 2009 article by Chancellor Gerald Flurry. “‘That’s the real art, the real architecture, the real hope. The physical things simply create the environment for their spirits to soar, to be happy.’”

In his first commencement address, new dean of students Wayne Turgeon encouraged the graduates, faculty and guests to “commence with your lifelong learning journey.” He said the Herbert W. Armstrong College education forces students to discern truth from error instead of accepting whatever an instructor presents. Even though the graduates’ formal educational career may be ending, he said, their lifelong learning journey is only beginning.

After the presentation of awards and the conferring of diplomas, the graduates exited the theater beaming with smiles and hope for success beyond Herbert W. Armstrong College, an institution that many said has changed their lives.


Herbert W. Armstrong College Graduates of 2016

* With distinction: grade point average of 3.33 to 3.54

* With high distinction: grade point average of 3.55 to 3.79

* With highest distinction: grade point average of 3.8 and above


Two-Year Graduates

Melissa Anne Barreiro

Calela Joyce Brooks (with high distinction)

Gino Alfred Chi

Stephanie Lynn Cocomise (with high distinction)

Adiel Simeí Granados Melgar (with distinction)

Rachael Kaye Grellet (with highest distinction)

Maria Fernanda Gutmann Freire

Julia Zipporah Hayes

Sarah Belle Kimes

Johnathan Joseph Mansour

Grace Eleazar Marquez (with distinction)

David Michels

Josué Michels (with distinction)

Arianne Maye Olsen (with high distinction)

Katelynn Elizabeth Smedley (with distinction)

Kayla Marie Taylor (with highest distinction)

Kieren Jacob Underwood (with highest distinction)


Four-Year Graduates

Michael John Cocomise

Brooke Hali Davis (with high distinction)

Lauren Elizabeth Eames (with high distinction)

Justin Acorda Goodearl

Daryle Eugene Hochstetler

Joel Peter Hudson-Stewart (with distinction)

Erica Lourae Irwin

Elyssia Margaret Lancaster

Victoria Lynn Lancaster (with highest distinction)

Samuel Aaron Livingston (with distinction)

Kiall Alexander Lorenz (with high distinction)

Jordanya Rain Rouzer (with distinction)

Victoria Allison Terrell

Anya Erika Trietsch

Danielle Brooke Underwood (with highest distinction)

Justin Wayne Yocum


Herbert W. Armstrong College Achievement Award Winners

*Seniors recognized as exemplifying the work ethic, humility and character of the award’s namesake.


Brooke Hali Davis

Daryle Eugene Hochstetler (Edstone)

Joel Peter Hudson-Stewart

Samuel Aaron Livingston (Edstone)