Events Planned for Mars Hill University President’s Inauguration

November 1, 2018

Mars Hill University will celebrate its 22nd president and the academic community he leads with a series of events during the week of November 5, highlighted by the inauguration of President Tony Floyd on Friday, November 9, 2018. Other events include a career symposium, blessing service, and football tailgate party.

In March, the university’s board of trustees announced John Anthony “Tony” Floyd, J.D., as the institution’s new president, effective June 1. He succeeded Dan G. Lunsford, who retired at the end of the 2017-18 academic year following more than 16 years at the helm. Floyd came to Mars Hill from Coker College in South Carolina, where he most recently had been the executive vice president.

The Symposium on Career Discernment and the Role of the University in This Work will be held Wednesday, November 7, from 3-5 p.m. in Thomas Black Box Theatre in Day Hall. Students in the university’s Master of Management program are organizing the symposium, which will feature a panel of experts discussing the concept of career discernment, as well as best practices and the university’s role in supporting students as they work to determine their career path. Panelists are Jenee Davis, a 2015 graduate of Mars Hill University who is a clinical professional recruiter with the State of North Carolina; Courtney Gauthier, associate director of career integrated learning in the Center for Career and Professional Development at Western Carolina University; Ryan Johnson, associate professor of accounting at Wofford College; and Tracy Lauder, assistant vice president of academic programs at Emory & Henry College.

A service of blessing and prayer will take place Thursday, November 8, at 7 p.m., in Broyhill Chapel. Members of the university community will join in praying for God’s blessing on President Floyd and his wife, Terry.

The inauguration service will be held in Moore Auditorium on Friday, November 9, at 10:30 a.m. Delegates from more than 20 other colleges and universities will participate in the service. President Robert Wyatt of Coker College will give remarks. The service will include a reading by President Floyd’s daughter Olivia and a musical performance by his daughter Sarah, as well as a performance by the Mars Hill University Choir and Festival Brass, and greetings from various constituencies of the university community. President Floyd will give remarks on his inaugural theme, “Scaling New Heights.” A reception in Day Hall will follow the inauguration.

To conclude the week’s inaugural activities, the Student Government Association will host a tailgate party for students on Saturday, November 10, at 10:30 a.m., on Athletic Street, prior to Mars Hill’s final football game of the season.