Congressman to speak at Harding University commencement May 14

Approximately 700 graduates will receive diplomas at Harding University commencement exercises Saturday, May 14.

Graduates include students from the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Bible and Religion, Paul R. Carter College of Business Administration, College of Communication, Cannon-Clary College of Education, Carr College of Nursing, College of Sciences and the Honors College.

Keynote speaker will be Congressman Tim Griffin who was elected the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District Nov. 2, 2010. The youngest son of a minister and teacher, Griffin is a fifth-generation Arkansan, as well as a veteran, attorney and former small business owner.

For the 112th Congress, Griffin is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Committee on the Judiciary, and is an assistant whip for the majority. As part of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he serves as vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia.

A Magnolia native, Griffin is a cum laude graduate of both Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., where he received his B.A., and Tulane Law School in New Orleans, where he received his J.D. He also attended graduate school at Pembroke College, Oxford University, in England.

Griffin is currently serving in his 14th year as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, holds the rank of major, and is assigned to the Southeast Medical Area Readiness Support Group as the command judge advocate.

He founded the Griffin Law Firm PLLC, a Little Rock firm, and Griffin Public Affairs LLC. He is licensed to practice in both Arkansas and Louisiana and is a fellow of the Arkansas Bar Foundation.

Griffin resides in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, and their two children.

President David B. Burks will present diplomas to all graduates. Ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. in Ganus Athletic Center, and the doors open at 8 a.m.