Greeneville-based business, community and educational leader Scott M. Niswonger, a trustee and 1987 alumnus of Tusculum College, was presented an honorary doctor of humane letters degree Saturday in commencement ceremonies concluding the 2005-2006 academic year.

Three-hundred-thirty-five earned degrees were also presented to graduate and undergraduate students from both the traditional Residential College and the Graduate and Professional Studies program for working adult students.

The traditional baccalaureate sermon was preached by Campus Chaplain the Rev. Dr. Steve Weisz, who used an analogy drawn from two seas, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, to contrast the differences in lives that serve others and lives that are focused on receiving rather than giving.

The Sea of Galilee, which has both an inlet and outlet, is a thriving and living body of water, whereas the Dead Sea, which only receives water but does not send it out again, is stagnant and dead, Dr. Weisz said.

"Which body of water will you be like?" Dr. Weisz asked the assembled graduates.

In his comments introducing Niswonger to the audience, President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry also emphasized the theme of giving, noting Niswonger's well-documented generosity to community causes including Tusculum College, local arts, athletics and public education.

Regarding Niswonger's impact on Tusculum College, Dr. Henry compared Niswonger to the family of Cyrus and Nettie McCormick a century ago. The McCormicks generously supported Tusculum College and built several campus buildings still in use at the college.

In accepting the honorary degree, Niswonger thanked the college and said that while his first undergraduate degree -- an aviation-related degree from Purdue University -- provided him the background he needed to be a pilot, it was his study of business administration at Tusculum College in the Graduate and Professional Studies program that gave him the training he needed to succeed in business.

He told the graduates that, whatever career path they take, they should be prepared for continuing education throughout life, a necessity in today's professional world.

He also encouraged them to work hard to earn resources they can share with their communities to make life better for others. Five years ago, Niswonger recalled, he established the Niswonger Foundation with a focus on education and industrial training to help provide the type of jobs that will allow graduates to find positions using their skills in this region.

"We have a motto at the Foundation," he continued. "Learn, earn, and return. The learning is what you have been doing and the earning is an opportunity to apply that education in earning an income to support you and your family. The returning of your time, talents, and service is what makes you a responsible citizen of your community." Niswonger encouraged the graduates to give back to their community and to make a difference in the lives of others. "Earning and giving is what you do for those who follow."

Special guests recognized in the ceremony were two members of the Tusculum College Class of 1956, this year's "Golden Pioneer" (50-year anniversary) class who attended and marched in the processional. They were Joseph Stallard of Norton, Va., and the Rev. Robert Vely of Douglasville, Ga. The Golden Pioneers were also treated to a pre-commencement breakfast and a luncheon reception at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Henry after the commencement.

Also speaking at the commencement ceremony were two members of the graduating class. Jessica Wellington, a Floridian who now lives in Greeneville and who majored in athletic training at Tusculum College, discussed her love for Tusculum College and Northeast Tennessee and the impact that coming to the college has had upon her life. "I value every moment I've spent here," she said. "I have grown as a person," she said of her time at Tusculum College. "I have learned to become more patient, considerate, and giving and to accept others as they are. Tusculum has given me the opportunity to earn a quality education.

"When we all came here as freshmen we had dreams of what we wanted to be," she told her fellow graduates. "As graduates, we now have the opportunity to succeed."

Morristown's David Craft, a student in the Graduate and Professional Studies program, talked about how the GPS program enabled him to work toward his degree without "compromising" his family and professional life.

Craft said choosing to gp back to school was difficult, and he came up with many excuses for why he should not do so, including that he already had a successful career and that it might negatively affect his relationship with his wife and children. As it turned out, he said, thanks to his GPS experiences, he is now a better employee and family man.