Matthew Coleman of Sweet Home was among a group of more than 250 students who received a diploma at George Fox University’s midyear commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 15.
Coleman, who pastors Hillside Fellowship, earned a degree in master of arts in spiritual formation from the Newberg-based university.
About 160 students received bachelor’s degrees after completing study in one of George Fox’s 41 undergraduate bachelor’s degree majors or its adult degree programs. Another 100 students received a master’s degree or a doctorate after completing study in one of the university’s graduate programs or in its seminary.
Ceremonies took place in Miller Gymnasium in the Wheeler Sports Center on the school’s Newberg, campus. The commencement speaker was William M. Schniedewind, a professor of biblical studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a 1984 alumnus of George Fox. He holds the Kershaw Chair of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies at UCLA and is chair of the school’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.