Alex Huskey, a Marion pastor who also serves as chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, will speak at graduations at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday in the Chapel Auditorium at Indiana Wesleyan University. About 1,760 students will receive diplomas in the two ceremonies.
About 920 of the Saturday graduates will receive undergraduate degrees in the morning graduation, and the other 840 students will receive graduate degrees in the afternoon. Registered nurses who have completed their bachelor of science in nursing degree also will participate in the afternoon graduation.
Most of the graduates in both ceremonies have earned their degrees through IWU adult education programs.
Tickets, which are issued in advance to graduates, are required for admission to the Chapel Auditorium. There will be overflow seating in Phillippe Performing Arts Center to watch a live telecast of the ceremonies.
Huskey is a veteran public servant with 20 years of law enforcement experience. For 13 years, he was a member of the Marion Police Department where he served in various capacities ranging from detective to coordinator of Drug Abuse Resistance Education to assistant police chief.
In August of 2004, former Indiana Gov. Joseph E. Kernan appointed Huskey as the superintendent of the Indiana Excise Police. He was reappointed by current Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2005 and remained in that job until May of 2011 when he was named the Chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
In addition to his full-time state responsibilities, Huskey has served since 2007 as the pastor of New Bethany Church of God in Christ. He served 20 years previously as the associate minister and assistant pastor of the church.
Huskey is a graduate of Indiana University with a bachelor of general studies degree in social and behavioral sciences and also graduated from the IU Master of Public Management Program, with an emphasis on public policy and management.
IWU also has three graduation ceremonies in April and two in August.