A total of 345 students participated in Coastal Carolina University's commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

A total of 728 graduate candidates from August and December were eligible.

Commencement speaker Jonathan Green, a noted South Carolina painter and printmaker, exhorted students to go out and fight for the arts and for human rights.

“We need the visual arts, music, dance and theater, combined with knowledge, to make us far better human beings,” said Green, who also received the honorary degree Doctor of Fine Arts.

“Much of my sense of purpose in life was influenced by my grandmother Eloise who stressed the values of work, love and belonging which has always been reflected in my art,” Green said, exhorting the students to seek their life's passion and develop a work ethic.

“I believe these essential tasks of life cannot be achieved without internalizing the value of work whether it is that of an artist, accountant, manager of a household, or other essential tasks of survival."

Born in Gardens Corner, S.C., Green earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1982.

Green’s work, known for its vibrant color and dramatic depiction of rural Gullah scenes, is prized by collectors and critics throughout the world.

The following graduates were from our area:

Philip Brady, BAI, Georgetown

Kathy Martin, MAT, Georgetown

Lucy  Mitchum, BAE, Georgetown

Sheena McGee, BS CL, Georgetown

Holly Crown, MBA, Georgetown

Ashley Morris, BAE, Andrews

Patrick Morris, BSB, Andrews

Colt George, BSB, Andrews

Candace Johnson, BA, Andrews

Kaitlin Patterson, BSB SC, Hemingway

Shelley Baxley, BAE MC, Hemingway

Melanie   Buck, MED, Murrells Inlet

Aaron McKnight, BSB, Murrells Inlet

Lacie Maring, BAE MC, Murrells Inlet

Bianca Bashor, MED, Murrells Inlet

Chace Thornton, BSB, Murrells Inlet

Ina Coggeshall, BA,  Murrells Inlet

Stephen   Haines, BSB, Murrells Inlet

Jacob Benjamin, BS, Murrells Inlet

Mary Bourne, BSB MC, Murrells Inlet

Jessica   Smith, BSB, Murrells Inlet

Anthony Ludwig, BA CL, Murrell's Inlet

Tiffany   Walters, BSB, Murrells Inlet

Kerri Boudreau, MED, Murrells Inlet

Joseph Epperson, BSB, Murrells Inlet

Jean Harrison, BAE MC, Garden City

Brianne Calvert, BA CL, Garden City

Lara Keough, BA, Pawleys Island

Andrew Dawson, BS, Pawleys Island

Geoffrey  Goodell, BSB, Pawleys Island

Lynda Hanna, MED, Pawleys Island

Jaclyn Stanzione, BS, Pawleys Island