By Shelby Lynn Cash, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky.— Campbellsville University's 2011 May graduate commencement will host Dr. Bill F. Mackey, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, on Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m. at Ransdell Chapel, 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville.

Undergraduate commencement will host speaker, Dr. Kevin W. Cosby, senior pastor of St. Stephen Church and president of Simmons College of Kentucky, on Saturday, May 14 at 9 a.m. in the gymnasium of Powell Athletic Center, 203 Tiger Way, Campbellsville.

A total of 106 graduate students are expected to graduate upon meeting all requirements for graduation. They are: master of arts in organizational leadership, two; master of arts in social science, five; master of arts in special education, 32; master of business administration, 22;

Master of music in piano pedagogy, two; master of music in church music, one; master of music in performance, six; master of arts in education, five; master of arts in teaching English to speakers of other languages, five; master of music in musicology, one;

Master of social work, 12; master of theology, seven; and master of science in counseling, six.

The university has 257 undergraduate students, upon completion of all graduation requirements, will receive diplomas Saturday. They include: associate of nursing, 15; associate of science, 10; bachelor of arts, 19; bachelor of music, three; bachelor of science, 160; bachelor of science in business administration, 40; and bachelor of social work, 10.

Mackey has been involved in ministry since 1962 when he was a summer associate for Latta Baptist Church in Latta, S.C. Since then he has served at First Baptist Church in Middlesboro, Ky., and First Baptist Church in Whitesburg, Ky. Mackey was also the director of evangelism and the director of leadership development and evangelism growth team at the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

Mackey received an associate of arts degree in 1961 from North Greenville College in Tigerville, S.C. He holds a bachelor of arts degree, which he received in 1963, from Furman University in Greenville, S.C. He received his bachelor of divinity in 1967 and his doctor of ministry in 1979, both from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

He has served as executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention from 1998 to 2011. He led Kentucky Baptists to grow in partnership missions and missions support through the Cooperative Program and missions offerings with record receipts in 2009-2010 of $36.5 million.

Mackey also led the KBC to conduct an annual prayer emphasis and to develop a strategic mission plan and a mission statement summarized in the following: “Kentucky Baptists Connect: Connecting All People To Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Kevin W. Cosby

Cosby has been serving as senior pastor of St. Stephen Church since 1979. During his tenure, the church has grown from 500 members to approximately 10,000 members. St. Stephen Church is now recognized by Outreach Magazine as one of the top 100 largest churches in America and by Emerge Magazine as one of the six super churches of the south.

In 1998, Cosby encouraged St. Stephen Church to purchase and convert the original four-acre campus of Simmons University, once home to the oldest African-American educational institution in Kentucky, to be used as a lifestyle enrichment campus. In 2005, Cosby was named the 13th president of Simmons Bible College, now called Simmons College of Kentucky.

Cosby earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Ky., a master of divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and a doctor of ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Cosby has also authored three books, “Get off Your But!: Messages, Musings & Ministries to Empower the African-American Church,” “As They Went” and “Treasure Worth Seeking.”

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with over 3,000 students offering 63 undergraduate programs, 17 master's degrees and five postgraduate areas. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.