Seminary of the Southwest is excited to announce that the speaker at the 72nd Commencement Exercises celebrating the Class of 2023 will be the award-winning poet Roger Reeves. Reeves is the author of King Me and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, and a 2015 Whiting Award, among other honors. His work has appeared in Poetry, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.
It was recently announced that Reeves’ most recent book, Best Barbarian, was one of five finalists for the National Book Award in poetry and was named a New York Times Notable Book. In September, 2022, he was the featured speaker at Southwest’s Soul in the City event series organized by the Center for Creative Writing and Expression.
The Commencement Exercises will be held on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin, TX.
“What a gift to have Roger Reeves as our commencement preacher,” said the Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Dean and President. “Roger has touched our community with his poetry and his presence, and we look forward to welcoming him back for this celebration of our graduates.”
Southwest also announced that at the Commencement Exercises, honorary Doctorates of Humane letters will be bestowed upon Florence McGee and Dr. Catherine Meeks in recognition for their long-standing commitment to The Episcopal Church, Seminary of the Southwest, and the mission and vision of both.
“In different spheres and each in her unique style, Catherine Meeks and Florence McGee have both advanced God’s mission of healing and reconciliation,” said Kittredge. “It is our privilege to honor them at Commencement.”
