AU holds Fall 2025 Commencement ceremonies
Staff report
Augusta University held its fall undergraduate graduation ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 11, at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center.
The previous night, the graduate commencement and hooding were held in the same venue.
Zach Kelehear, vice provost for instruction and innovation, opened the undergraduate proceedings with a reminder to the assembled.
“Commencement is a milestone,” Kelehear said, “not only for the graduates but also for those who traveled near and far to be a part of this day.”
After the ringing of the Arsenal Bell, the faculty marched into the convention hall to Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance,” played by the AU Brass Quintet.
AU President Russell T. Keen presided over the ceremonies, with Provost Maggy G. Tomova presenting the candidates from the various colleges.
Jon Burns, the speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, was the keynote lecturer at the undergraduate ceremony.
“I really believe this is just the beginning of a very bright future,” Burns told the graduating students, “knowing all of the opportunities that lie ahead of you—and those opportunities can only be limited by you.”
Landon Gilbert was the student speaker for the undergraduate ceremony. Gilbert encouraged his fellow graduating seniors to roll with the punches that life will bring to everyone.
“I remember when I was a kid watching the movie ‘Rocky,’ with my old man,” said Gilbert, who earned his degree in business administration. “If you’re asking, we’ve probably watched it eight times over—and it’s a great movie, by the way. But if you don’t know what the movie is about, I will dumb it down for you. It’s a movie about a nobody fighter (Rocky Balboa) who stops at nothing to make it big. My father would say in the final act, where Rocky is fighting Apollo (Creed), ‘You see, son, that is what it’s all about. You may get knocked down, but you always, always, always’—accent on the last always—’get back up.’”
Dr. Zachary Powell, who is the chief operating officer of the Georgia Smile Group, served as the keynote at the graduate ceremony. The graduate student speaker was Natalie Mseis-Jackson, who had earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience last summer.
Megan Reagan sang the national anthem and alma mater on Wednesday, and Jamal Bogan had the honors on Thursday.
Spring 2026 graduation ceremonies will be held on May 7 (graduate students) and May 8 (undergraduates).
Zach Kelehear, vice provost for instruction and innovation, tells the audience about how the Fall 2025 Commencement Exercises at the Marriott Convention Center in downtown Augusta will proceed. At the top of the page, President Russell T. Keen introduces the keynote speaker at the undergraduate ceremony, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives Jon Burns. (photos by Paula Toole/Augusta University).
Bailee Roberts, one of the most outstanding players in AU softball history, was one of the first students to graduate with a degree in sports management. (photo by Paula Toole/Augusta University)
