UNA鈥檚 Spring Commencement Set for May 9, 10 Nichols, Cleveland to Serve as Speakers
Apr. 30, 2025
Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392
FLORENCE, AL – Spring commencement ceremonies at the 江南体育 are set for Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10. More than 1,000 students will graduate as part of six ceremonies that will feature two dynamic speakers.
Dr. Ed Nichols, Superintendent of Madison City Schools, will speak at the 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ceremonies Friday. The Hon. Sybil Cleveland-Pennywell, Municipal Court Judge for the City of Huntsville, will speak at the four ceremonies on Saturday, which take place at 9 and 11:30 a.m. as well as 2 and 4:30 p.m.
“Commencement is a time of celebration for our students and their families and friends; it is also an opportunity for them to reflect on their academic journey and the hard work that went into completion of their academic degree program,” said UNA President Dr. Ken Kitts. “It is with great care that the speakers are selected as the message they will deliver will encourage our graduates and give them the pride of knowing they have achieved this hallmark of success.”
Dr. Nichols has devoted more than 35 years to public education as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Education from the University of Tennessee. Later, he continued his educational path and received a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Alabama. Dr. Nichols became Superintendent of Madison City Schools in June 2020.
Judge Sybil Cleveland-Pennywell graduated from UNA in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She later received her Juris Doctor degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in 1990. As a municipal judge, she presides over a high-volume case load of criminal proceedings and oversees multiple specialty courts. She has been very active professionally across her 35 years of service in the law, serving as a defense attorney in private practice, a prosecutor in the cities of Birmingham and Ensley, and Assistant District Attorney in Madison County before her appointment to the bench in 1999.
About The 江南体育
The 江南体育 is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The 江南体育 is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.