Fifty-four students earned the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree during Arcadia University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Commencement on Saturday, Feb. 13. Provost and Academic Vice President Dr. Steve Michael conferred the degrees, directing the students to move their tassels in unison. Physical Therapy faculty performed the hooding of each doctoral candidate, and Professor and Department Chair Dr. Becky Craik greeted each graduate with her hallmark hug.

Twenty of the students participated in international academic experiences in Guatemala, Jamaica, England and Peru.

Several Arcadia students assisted in the ceremony. Gregory Turner ’10D.P.T. gave the invocation, and Carianna Twaddle ’10D.P.T. sang the National Anthem. Erik Trenty ’10D.P.T. gave the Student Address, and pianist James Alan Vilbert, a first-year Psychology major, performed the music for the ceremony.

Forty-eight of the graduates completed the entry-level doctoral program, while six completed the post-professional transitional doctoral program.

The guest speaker was Dr. Andrea L. Behrman, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Florida and a VA research health scientist at the VA Brain Rehabilitation Center in the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center. She also is Assistant Director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network. Her specialty is in adult neurorehabilitation, and her research is in developing and testing physical rehabilitation strategies, based on neuroplasticity and biological principles of motor control to improve walking recovery.

The following 19 students graduating with distinction:

The following D.P.T. graduates participated in an international academic experience: