MTSU’s new graduates can “double your world” by preparing to “enter a global marketplace of ideas and commerce,” the director-general of the Confucius Institutes said at the university’s spring 2014 commencement ceremonies May 10.

They’ll be successful, too, if those students hold onto the strong foundation of ethics and education that the university helped to give them, a retiring U.S. Army three-star general said.

Madam Xu Lin, who also serves China as a vice minister of education, was the guest speaker at MTSU’s morning graduation ceremony. Lt. Gen. William N. “Bill” Phillips, an MTSU alumnus and three-star U.S. Army general, spoke at the afternoon event.

Both speakers also were awarded honorary doctorates from the university.

During the ceremonies, 2,303 students earned their degrees — 1,904 undergraduates and 397 graduate students.

You can learn more about MTSU’s spring 2014 commencement at http://mtsunews.com/spring-commencement-2014.