Dr. Marjorie Hass, Council of Independent Colleges president, to deliver commencement address at Centenary May
Dr. Marjorie Hass, president of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), will address Centenary’s Class of 2025 during commencement exercises held in the College’s Gold Dome on Saturday, May 3. Hass will also receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Centenary during the ceremony.
Hass has led the CIC, an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates, since 2021. The organization works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society.
“Dr. Hass has a long and distinguished record as a scholar and leader,” said Centenary president Dr. Christopher L. Holoman. “She is now a powerful voice for private higher education and the importance of liberal arts institutions for our society. As Centenary begins its third century, she will bring keen insight into the powerful role the College can play in the future.”
Prior to her selection as leader of CIC, Hass served as president of two of its member institutions: Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and Austin College in Sherman, Texas. She was also a member of the philosophy faculty, and later provost, at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for more than 16 years. Hass earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her published scholarship has explored the philosophy of language, logic, and feminist thought.
As an industry thought leader in higher education, Hass writes and speaks frequently on topics such as leadership, shared governance, and the importance of the independent sector in higher education. She also turns her philosophical expertise toward personal matters and contemporary cultural issues, offering commentary about topics as diverse as her experiences during breast cancer treatment and humans’ increasingly difficult struggle to sustain meaningful attention in a world riddled with distractions.
The 2025 commencement exercises at Centenary begin at 10:30 a.m. and are free and open to the public. More information, including live streaming links that will be available on the day of the ceremony, is available at centenary.edu/graduation.