Longwood commencement set for May 12

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More than 1,000 students are expected to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees from Longwood University on Saturday, May 12.

Commencement exercises, which begin at 9:30 a.m. on Wheeler Mall, feature an address by John Charles Thomas, the first African American and the youngest person, at 32, to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Thomas, who served on the court from 1983-89, is now a senior partner with the Richmond-based law firm of Hunton & Williams. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Among the students graduating on Saturday are more than 850 students receiving bachelor's degrees in fields such as economics, math, computer science, kinesiology and art, and about 150 students receiving master's degrees in fields including communication sciences and disorders, business administration and education.

Longwood is a public university of more than 4,000 students located in Farmville, Va. Longwood is one of the 75 public institutions featured in The Princeton Review's book, "The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition" and was named one of the best colleges in the United States in the 2011 annual survey published by Forbes magazine. For more information, go to longwood.edu.