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Dr. Guice delivers his commencement address.

Louisiana Tech University conferred 358 degrees during the Winter 2024 Commencement ceremony, expanding the Tech Family to 113,816 strong on a picture-perfect and pleasant Saturday at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Returning to the latest of many ceremonies he attended over the years but his first as president emeritus was Dr. Les Guice, a ’76 and ’78 graduate of Louisiana Tech and the University’s 14^th president who retired at the end of 2023.

In the opening of his commencement address, Guice was quick to point out that while he had originally planned to offer his advice to the graduates on themes like responding to challenges and overcoming adversity, the students in attendance had experienced much of that already through campus-wide hardships like the April 2019 tornado and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, Guice chose to commend the graduates for their successes in the face of those challenges.

“You’ll achieve much in your life, and you’ll look fondly back at your time at Tech as the most transformative time,” Guice said. “I’m highly confident that you’ll make a difference in our world and have life-changing impacts on many others.”

The ceremony was also the first as Louisiana Tech president for Dr. Jim Henderson, who stressed to the Thomas Assembly Center crowd that inviting Guice to deliver the commencement address was an easy decision.

“When I think of the words ‘Ever Loyal Be,’ the first person that comes to mind is a person who has given 45 years of his life to this institution,” Henderson said of Guice during the ceremony. “And when I think of leaders of character, the first person I think of is that same man.”

Also during the ceremony, Justin and Jeanette Hinckley were recognized with the University’s highest honor, the Tower Medallion. The Tower Medallion signifies membership in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni and is awarded to Tech alumni who have made a difference with their exceptional achievement, community service, and humanitarian activities.

The pair graduated from Tech in 1978. Justin, a graduate in Computer Science, was named Tech’s Alumnus of the Year in 2010. Wife Jeanette Jarrell Hinckley, an English education graduate, was the University’s Distinguished Alumna for the College of Education in 2016.