West Virginia Wesleyan College is pleased to announce the guest speakers for the Baccalaureate and Commencement ceremonies. Graduation weekend activities are slated for the first weekend in May.

The Reverend Dr. Stella Roberts ‘72, District Superintendent of the Knoxville, Tennessee, District for the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church, will speak to the graduating class at the Baccalaureate service on Saturday, May 1, 8 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. On Sunday, May 2 at 10 a.m., Bishop S. Clifton Ives, Resident Bishop of the West Virginia United Methodist Church, is the featured speaker for the Commencement ceremony in Rockefeller Center.

“The College is pleased and proud to welcome its alumna, Rev. Stella Roberts, as our Baccalaureate Service speaker. Ms. Roberts has been a distinguished clergywoman, and her alma mater is honored to recognize her in this way.”

Dr. Roberts has been serving as District Superintendent since June 2002. Prior to her appointment in Knoxville, she served Keith Memorial United Methodist Church in Athens, Tennessee for 15 years. A 1972 Wesleyan graduate, Dr. Roberts received her Master of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School and Doctorate of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. Concurrent with her service in Athens, she chaired the Holston Conference's Board of Ordained Ministry and taught courses in religion at Tennessee Wesleyan College.

Dr. Roberts lives in Knoxville and Athens with her husband, Dr. Sam Roberts ‘73, Professor and Chairman of Religion and Philosophy at Tennessee Wesleyan College. The public is invited to attend Baccalaureate.

Commencement ceremonies will be highlighted by an address to the class of 2004 by the Bishop S. Clifton Ives. Bishop Ives, a graduate of the University of Maine, received his Master's and Doctorate degrees in Divinity from the Boston University School of Theology. As part of the ceremony, Bishop Ives will receive an Honorary Degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College. He is currently a member of the Wesleyan Board or Trustees. Bishop Ives’ term of service as a Trustee will end with his retirement as a Bishop in The United Methodist Church.

Bishop Ives served local churches in Maine from 1961 to 1986, and was named District Superintendent in 1986 and served in that position until 1992. He was elected Bishop at the 1992 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference. He has served the West Virginia Area since his election and will retire this year.

Bishop Ives has served on several boards and agencies of the United Methodist Church, among them are the General Board of Discipleship, the Northeastern Jurisdictional Episcopacy Committee and the Jurisdictional Board of Ordained Ministry. He was a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences (1972-92). He presently serves on the General Commission on Religion and Race.

I am pleased that Dr. Roberts and Bishop Ives have accepted President Haden's invitations to speak during Commencement Weekend this year,” remarked Angela Gay Kinkead, Dean of the Chapel. “They are individuals who are both insightful and full of life and they will have a good word for our graduates, their families and friends.”