May 2, 2025
East Texas Baptist University honored 175 graduating seniors by presenting their official ETBU Class Ring. The Ring Blessing ceremony was held Wednesday, April 30, for the soon-to-be ETBU alumni who will walk the stage in May 2025. Inspired by Deuteronomy 6, the class ring allows ETBU Alumni to carry and display the love of Christ.
"I love Ring Blessing Day," Alumni Director and Coordinator of Intercessory Prayer Ministry Cari Johnson said. "These Seniors are doing the hard work to finish well, and today, we get to pause and breathe in the possibilities and promises while acknowledging that apart from God, we can do nothing. So, we celebrate these remarkable seniors by offering a symbol to wear with open hands, ready to receive all that God has, committed to serve and lead with generosity and gratitude."
Each ETBU Class Ring features the seal of East Texas Baptist, surrounded by the cornerstones of the University – Veritas, Mores, and Scientia, which translate from Latin to Truth, Character, and Knowledge. Significant icons of ETBU and the Christian faith are inscribed in the ring, such as the historic Marshall Hall, the Light on the Hill, Max Greiner's Divine Servant Statue, and the Bible. These symbols are meant to remind alumni of God's work in their lives and their transformational experience at East Texas Baptist University.
"Receiving my ETBU ring gives me a physical reminder of all the ways God led me to the very moment of putting it on," senior mass communication major Logan Herren said. "It's an honor to wear it on my finger because not only does it speak to myself, but it also gives me the chance to let others know how alive God is on the Hill. As my time at ETBU closes, I have the joy to reflect on how the professors, administration, and other students on campus challenged me to personally know God in ways I had never experienced Him before."
The ceremony celebrates the accomplishments of students during their time at ETBU and serves as a milestone for students leading up to commencement. As a token and gift of appreciation from the University to graduating seniors, the ETBU Class Ring symbolizes the University's blessing over students as they commence from ETBU to pursue their career callings. Vice President for Executive Affairs Scott Bryant delivered a charge to the students, encouraging them as they prepare to leave the Hill and begin the next chapter of their lives.
"When you stepped foot on campus, you entered the ETBU story. And you've been writing your ETBU story as a student. Soon, you'll be taking the education and experiences you've gained here out into the world as an ETBU alumnus," Bryant said. "Your graduation isn't the finish line; it's the starting line. The launchpad to all that God has for you. Our alumni continue to make a great impact in the world, not because life was easy for them, but because they endured and were equipped to serve with excellence and faith."