More than 1,800 to graduate from Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - More than 1,800 students are receiving degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi on Friday and Saturday.

Friday, outgoing College Board trustee Dr. Douglas Rouse will address graduates in Hattiesburg. An orthopedic surgeon and USM graduate, Rouse served 10 years as a trustee.

Also Friday, the university will award a posthumous honorary degree to Clyde Kennard, a black U.S. Army veteran denied admission multiple times by the then-Mississippi Southern College. In 1960, Kennard was falsely convicted of helping steal chicken feed. While imprisoned, he was diagnosed with cancer but was denied proper treatment until he was critically ill. Kennard died in 1963 at 36.

On Saturday, outgoing trustee Christy Pickering will address graduates in Biloxi. An accountant, Pickering also graduated from USM and served 10 years as a trustee.