Texas State prepares for three days of spring 2016 commencement

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
May 6, 2016

Brigadier General Robert LaBrutta, United States Air Force, will serve as the keynote speaker during one of seven commencement ceremonies to be held May 12-14 at Texas State University.

All commencement ceremonies will be held in Strahan Coliseum.

LaBrutta will speak during the 10 a.m. ceremony May 14, to be attended by degree candidates from the College of Fine Arts and Communication and the Graduate College.

Degree candidates from the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education and School Psychology, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University College and the Graduate College will attend the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony May 12.

Degree candidates from the College of Science and Engineering, Department of Health and Human Performance and the Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony May 12.

Degree candidates from the McCoy College of Business Administration and the Graduate College will attend the 6 p.m. commencement ceremony May 12.

Degree candidates from the Department of Anthropology, Department of English, Department of Geography, Department of Modern Languages, Department of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, Department of Sociology and the Graduate College will attend the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony May 13.

Degree candidates from the College of Health Professions, Center for International Studies, Department of History, Department of Political Science and the Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony May 13.

Degree candidates from the College of Applied Arts and the Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony May 14.

There are approximately 4,600 candidates for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Texas State this spring.

LaBrutta is commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing and Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), which includes JBSA-Randolph, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, JBSA-Lackland, and JBSA-Camp Bullis. The 8,000-person Air Wing Base bolsters the largest joint base in the United States Department of Defense, consisting of 266 mission partners, more than 80,000 full-time personnel and a local community of more than 250,000 retirees.

LaBrutta enlisted in the Air Force in 1981 and later earned a commission in May 1989 as a personnel officer through the Air Force ROTC program at Texas State. He has served in a wide variety of assignments to include base level, the Air Force Personnel Center, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a major Air Force command and combatant command staff. His command tours include squadron, group and wing levels.  

Prior to his current assignment, he was the director of manpower and personnel for the United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

While there is no substitute for attending a commencement ceremony in person, Texas State will stream the ceremonies live over the internet for friends and family members who are unable to attend. If needed, Texas State will also provide overflow space for viewing the live stream of the ceremony. That live stream is available on the Texas State commencement web page at: www.txstate.edu/commencement/.