(St. George, UT) - Dixie State College of Utah will graduate its largest baccalaureate class in school history at its 99th Annual Commencement Exercises on Friday, May 7, at 6 p.m., in the Avenna Center Burns Arena. Along with the usual “Pomp and Circumstance,” Dixie State will also use the occasion to formally kick off its Centennial Celebration. The Centennial Celebration will be a 17-month affair filled with events and festivities leading up to the institution’s 100th birthday in September of 2011.

To date, the college is slated to confer a total of 1,245 total degrees, including 330 bachelor degrees, an increase of 43 percent from last year (231 bachelor’s degrees) and more than double the number in 2008, along with 915 associate degrees, which is up 10 percent from 2008-09. In addition, 642 vocational and technical certificates will be awarded, which is 255 more than a year ago.

Of the record 330 baccalaureate degrees to be conferred, more than half (163) of the graduates will come from three of DSC’s four-year programs – business administration (72), elementary education (48) and communication (43), along with a record 39 graduates in Dixie’s integrated studies program. In all, students will be graduating in 12 of DSC’s four-year degree programs, including the first-ever class of six graduates in the College’s new music program.

Five foreign countries (Canada, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Peru) and 29 states are represented in the Class of 2010. Meanwhile, nearly 87 percent of DSC’s graduates call Utah home (1,058 students), with 27 of the state’s 29 counties represented, while over two-thirds of those students (631) hail from Washington County. Female graduates constitute almost 56 percent of the class, while the class ranges in age from 16 to 62.

This year’s graduating class also features second class of high school students who will be awarded an associate degree as part of the Southern Utah Center for Computer, Engineering, and Science Students (SUCCESS) Academy program. The SUCCESS Academy is a state-approved early college high school in partnership with Washington County School District and Dixie State College. This academically rigorous and challenging program provides students the opportunity to earn an associate degree through an on-campus college curriculum while also completing their high school graduation requirements at their boundary high school. The Success Academy on the DSC campus began in the fall of 2006 and to date, 99 students have completed the program to earn their associate degree, including 45 students this year.

Whitney Phillips, a senior communication major originally from Teton Valley, Idaho, will serve as the Baccalaureate Degree Valedictorian commencement speaker. Emily Thomas, a 16-year-old student currently enrolled in the SUCCESS Academy, will speak on behalf of the Associate Degree class. Thomas, who is also a student at Dixie High School, will be the youngest graduating commencement speaker in DSC history.

One honorary doctorate degree will be awarded during the exercises, with commencement speaker, David L. Clark, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, receiving the honor. In addition, Mr. Jerry Anderson, Mr. Jeremy Johnson, Mr. D. Williams Ronnow, Mr. Christopher A. Roybal and Ms. Vicki R. Wilson, will receive Distinguished Citizen Awards.

Dixie State’s 2010 commencement exercises will begin at 6 p.m., with David L. Clark, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, serving as commencement speaker. Graduates will march from DSC’s Eccles Fine Arts Center down the palm-lined walkway to the Burns Arena beginning at 5:30 p.m. The community is invited to participate in all commencement activities.

The annual President’s Reception and Graduate Luncheon will be held earlier that day from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the DSC Gardner Center Ballroom. The luncheon is free to graduates, while extra tickets may be purchased for $11 for adults, $7 for children age 12-under. Luncheon tickets are available at the DSC Avenna Center Ticket Office or by call 435-652-7800. For more DSC Commencement information, please visit www.dixie.edu