Flagler College will hold its fall commencement ceremony at the Flagler College Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 9, for approximately 180 graduates, including the college’s first three grads from its new Deaf/Hard of Hearing master’s program.

Flagler College’s Vocal Arts will hold its Winter Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Rotunda of the college’s Ponce de Leon Hall, 74 King St. The performance will include an eclectic mix of traditional and holiday choral music in various styles.

WJCT and Flagler College will hold a preview on Nov. 27 of “Secrets of Spanish Florida: A Secrets of the Dead Special,” as well as a discussion about why this history is so important for everyone to know.

The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum at Flagler College will hold a fall exhibition of work by the college’s graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts candidates from the Department of Art and Design. The exhibition will open with a reception on Thursday, Dec. 7, from 5-8 p.m. It will be on view on Friday, Dec. 8, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and on Saturday, Dec. 9 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

More than 300 Flagler College students, faculty, staff and alumni fanned out across St. Augustine on Saturday for a day of community service that benefitted 14 local nonprofit organizations that ranged from an emergency shelter for abused women to a local reserve for unwanted exotic animals.

Story and Photos by Jordan Puyear With over 21 years of experience running Mailroom Services at Flagler College, Terry Bennett has seem his share of mail coming and going for students, faculty and staff. But this year has seen a massive shift. “This fall, we received more mail than we’ve ever received before,” he said.

Spring 2017 graduate and former Gargoyle writer Roxie Steward won Honorable Mention in the College Media Association’s 2016-2017 Pinnacle Awards in the Best Column category. The Gargoyle is Flagler College’s online student-run newspaper.

With this fall’s Senior Conservatory theme of “Decades,” Flagler College Theatre Arts students are preparing to showcase their talents through personal accounts from the 1980s, tackling the topic of the New Millennium or overcoming obstacles millennials face.

Flagler College will be hosting its eighth annual Flagler Creates! festival, featuring handmade items by the college’s students, faculty, staff and alumni on Saturday, Nov. 18. A portion of proceeds from participant donations will help finance student scholarships through the Flagler College Annual Fund. More than $6,000 has been donated to the fund since the event started in 2010.

Flagler College dedicated its newest residence hall in honor of former President William T. Abare, Jr. on Oct. 25 with a ribbon cutting. The building, named Abare Hall, is part of a $23 million complex on Malaga Street adjacent to the FEC Residence Halls on the banks of St. Augustine’s San Sebastian River. It houses 159 students in 75 suites.

This October marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of St. Augustine’s most beloved “plein air” painters, Emmett Fritz.

Flagler professor Dr. Kelly Enright was recently featured on a BBC Radio program that explored the history of the relationship between man and the water-loving rhinoceros.

Flagler College Theatre Arts students will be performing a staged concert production of the heartwarming holiday classic “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” from Nov. 15 to 19 in Lewis Auditorium.

The Flagler College Writers-in-Residence series kicks-off its annual talks with a visit by Cary Holladay, the author of seven volumes of fiction. Holladay will read from her latest work, "Horse People: Stories," on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the college's Markland House. The event is free and open to the public.

Flagler College recently welcomed Dr. Jessica Stowell as the college’s new director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. As director, Stowell will assist academic departments with evaluation and assessment and provide support for program reviews, accreditation visits and reporting to government and other external agencies.

The “Spotlight” series offers a glimpse into the lives of those who work behind the scenes to provide an enriching experience for Flagler College students. Faculty and staff featured in the series will be included in periodic faculty and staff newsletters.

The annual Flagler College/WW Gay Mechanical Contractors President’s Golf Classic presented by Ameris Bank will be Friday, Nov. 17 at the World Golf Village’s King and Bear Course.

In November, the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum and Flagler College will present an exhibition of recent work by full- and part-time faculty in Flagler College’s Department of Art and Design. The exhibition will open with a reception for the artists in conjunction with Art Walk, on Friday, Nov. 3 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. The exhibition continues through Dec. 2.

On Nov. 9, Dr. Robert Riggs, associate professor and chair in Religion and Politics at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, will discuss the early foundations of Middle East political tensions by focusing on the competing claims of Jewish, Arab and Turkish nationalists. His presentation, titled "Nationalism, Sectarianism, and Identity Politics in the Middle East: Reconsidering the Legacy of the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916,” is part of Flagler College’s Ideas & Images series.