UMO Summer Graduation Set for August 17
MOUNT OLIVE- The University of Mount Olive (UMO) will hold its summer commencement ceremony on Saturday, August 17, at 10:30 AM in the Kornegay Arena. The commencement speaker will be UMO Chair of the Department of Religion and History Dr. Alan Lamm.
This fall marks the 22nd year that Lamm has taught at the University. He also serves as the Assistant Director of the Honors Program. Lamm, a native of Wilson County, first came to UMO as a student because of his involvement with the Original Free Will Baptist church. He received his associate’s degree from UMO, his bachelor’s degree from UNC Greensboro, his M.Div. and Th.M. from Duke University, and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.
Lamm is a former U.S. Army captain who served as a Chaplain and Army Historian. He began his career in education serving as a history instructor at Trident Community College in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1997, he joined the faculty at Mount Olive College.
Lamm’s time in the military and the ministry helped to shape him into the professor that he is today: teaching him discipline and efficiency and helping prepare him to be an effective lecturer. His greatest strengths as a professor are his love for his subject and his success with research. For his teaching efforts, Lamm has earned numerous awards including the Dr. Thomas R. Morris Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2011, The Dean’s Merit Award for Outstanding Contribution in Teaching in the School of Arts & Sciences for the 2007-2008 academic year, and the North Caroliniana Society’s Archie K. Davis Research Fellowship in 2002. In addition to these awards, Lamm also received a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a six-part film entitled “Post War Years, Cold War Fears: 1945-1960” for the Wayne County Public library in 2006 as well as an NEH grant to lead a six-part film series entitled “The Sixties” for the Wayne County Public Library in 2007.
Lamm is married to Laura and has one son who serves in the U.S. Navy.
A baccalaureate service will be held Sunday, August 11, at 3 PM in Rodgers Chapel. The Reverend Phillip D. Boykin will be the speaker.
Boykin is the pastor of Black Jack Original Free Will Baptist Church near Greenville, North Carolina. Boykin grew up in Wilson, North Carolina and was a member of the Marsh Swamp Original Free Will Baptist Church. After graduating from Fike High School in Wilson, he continued his education at Mount Olive College (A.S.), Campbell University (B.A.), and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Ordained to the Gospel ministry in 1981, Boykin has served as pastor to several Original Free Will Baptist churches in addition to Black Jack including Trinity (Pantego, NC), Davis, Selma, and Lee’s Chapel (Dunn, NC). He has served the Boards of Directors for the Original Free Will Baptist Children’s Home and the Foreign Missions Ministry. Boykin has also served as Moderator of the Central Conference of OFWB’s and in several other conference positions. Married to Joy Cole Boykin, they are the parents of three children: Amanda Boykin Batts, Dr. Cole Boykin, and Hannah Boykin. Two of the great joys of their lives are their grandchildren, Paisley and Sadie Batts.
The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University, sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, has locations in Mount Olive, New Bern, Wilmington, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Research Triangle Park, Washington, Jacksonville, in Smithfield at Johnston Community College, and online. For more information, visit www.umo.edu.