[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/highlights\/mayor-todd-strange-presented-with-honorary-doctorate-at-2019-convocation\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/highlights\/mayor-todd-strange-presented-with-honorary-doctorate-at-2019-convocation\/","headline":"Mayor Todd Strange presented with Honorary Doctorate at 2019 Convocation","name":"Mayor Todd Strange presented with Honorary Doctorate at 2019 Convocation","description":"Faulkner University President Mike Williams and Faulkner leadership present Mayor Todd Strange with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the university\u2019s fall 2019 Convocation ceremony on Aug. 19 This year\u2019s annual Faulkner University Convocation ceremony was not only a…","datePublished":"2019-08-20","dateModified":"2019-08-20","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/author\/rburylo\/#Person","name":"Rebecca Burylo","url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/author\/rburylo\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/37a0c97fbd1eda89e38697defcaf0573?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/37a0c97fbd1eda89e38697defcaf0573?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Faulkner University","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Official-Horizontal-480x128.png","url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Official-Horizontal-480x128.png","width":480,"height":128}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/P8B6333.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/P8B6333.jpg","height":3840,"width":5760},"url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/highlights\/mayor-todd-strange-presented-with-honorary-doctorate-at-2019-convocation\/","about":["Current Students","Highlights"],"wordCount":508,"articleBody":"Faulkner University President Mike Williams and Faulkner leadership present Mayor Todd Strange with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the university\u2019s fall 2019 Convocation ceremony on Aug. 19This year\u2019s annual Faulkner University Convocation ceremony was not only a celebration of the start of a new school year by students and faculty, but it was a special way to recognize outgoing Mayor Todd Strange for his ten years of service to the City of Montgomery.The Tine Davis Gym on Faulkner\u2019s campus was filled on Monday with nearly 2,000 new and returning Faulkner Eagles, faculty and staff and guests from Alabama Christian Academy for the event.Following a processional and introduction of the university’s faculty, performances by the University Chorus and remarks from President Mike Williams, Williams along with Chancellor Billy Hilyer and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dave Rampersad, bestowed the university\u2019s highest honor, an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to Mayor Todd Strange.With a broad smile, Williams introduced the \u201cnewly-minted doctor\u201d to the applause of the crowd while a comic-book style introduction played on the screens. \u201cHere is the true, \u2018Dr. Strange,\u2019\u201d Williams said.Strange was overcome with emotion.\u201cThere are very few times I have chill bumps when I lose my train of thought and this was one of those times,\u201d Strange said. \u201cI\u2019ve said before that is has been the greatest honor of my life to be able to serve this community for ten years and for Faulkner, who is just a beacon of light in this community, who does so much great work in particular with education, to recognize my years in office and to honor me in this way, I\u2019m grateful and I\u2019m just honored.\u201dWhen Williams first came to Montgomery five years ago, Strange was one of the first leaders in the city to reach out and introduce himself and the two have forged a friendship and a shared vision to better Montgomery, Williams said. Since then, Faulkner has partnered with Montgomery Public School\u2019s Davis Elementary to support and mentor students in and out of the classroom. Additionally Faulkner has made huge strides to create an autism center for the River Region and currently provides speech and language therapy at no cost to the community.\u201cAs a newcomer to Montgomery, I met with Mayor Strange to lay out a vision of Faulkner to be deeply integrated in Montgomery,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHe just met me with open arms, and basically said \u2018we want to help propel Faulkner because we want what Faulkner has to offer.\u2019 It\u2019s just been a great partnership and to recognize him and our partnership is a great celebration. We join the whole city in celebrating ten years of growth in Montgomery and it is due in large part to Todd\u2019s leadership.\u201d\u201cMayor Todd Strange understands that the way to solve society\u2019s challenges is through partnership. He sees the potential, not just the problem. Mayor Todd Strange is the epitome of a public servant.\u201d"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Highlights","item":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/\/highlights\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mayor Todd Strange presented with Honorary Doctorate at 2019 Convocation","item":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/highlights\/mayor-todd-strange-presented-with-honorary-doctorate-at-2019-convocation\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]