94 Students Receive Diplomas

EUGENE, Ore.  - Northwest Christian University hosted their spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday. A combined total of 94 students will enter the world from NCU's three distinct student populations.

From the traditional undergraduate population, 39 students walked across the stage to receive bachelor's degrees. This year's most prolific major was Teacher Education, with thirteen students earning degrees with focuses anywhere from early childhood education, through high school.

NCU's Professional Studies Program, the evening degree completion track for working adults, boasted a graduating class of 29. Ten of those students earned bachelor's degrees in management.

Out of Northwest Christian University's graduate programs, 24 people graduated, including nine who received NCU's first Master's of Education diplomas. Additionally, thirteen students earned the Master of Arts in School Counseling.

In addition to more than 100 graduates, Northwest Christian awarded two Honorary Degrees. These degrees are given by the NCU Board of Trustees to recognize individuals who have served their professions, constituencies, and communities with integrity and distinction.

Carol Helseth Cure received a Doctor of Humanities degree. Cure is a musician, a teacher, an artist, a write, and a composer, as well as a tireless lay leader for her home congregation, Murray Hills Christian Church in Beaverton, Oregon. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in community service and public affairs, with a special focus in gerontology.

Cure has a heart for helping others, having participated in missions trips to Mexico and Kenya, served on numerous boards both in the community and for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), locally and nationally. Cure and her husband have opened up their home as an unofficial retreat center for various groups as a hospitality ministry, and they have hosted foreign exchange students. Cure's latest involvement is as a member of NCU's Vision Action Team for the School of Christian Ministry.

Michael L. Sweeney (pictured), who also served as the ceremony's keynote speaker, received a Doctor of Divinity degree. Sweeney is the president of Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City, Tennessee and is a gradute of NCU. He earned his diploma in Biblical Studies in 1980, and after finishing a master's degree at Emmanuel, completed a Ph.D. in biblical studies at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.

In 1991, Sweeney and his family traveled to Papua New Guinea to begin a 15-year stint with Pioneer Bible Translators as a translation consultant. The Sweeneys returned to the United States in 2006 when Mike assumed a teaching position at Emmanuel. He was named president of the seminary in 2009.