General | 12/14/2022 1:22:00 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  This past Saturday, December 10, Methodist University held its Winter Commencement at the Crown Coliseum, where students from the Class of 2022 were honored for all of their hard work in the classroom.
 
More than 130 graduates were handed diplomas by University President Stanley T. Wearden. Among them was Jillian Drinkard, a member of the nationally ranked (#7) women's golf team.
 
Drinkard has been a standout on the course. She is a four-time Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Division III All-American, a four-time All-Region golfer, a two-time USA South Athletic Conference Golfer of the Year, a two-time USA South All-Conference golfer, the 2019 WGCA D-III Freshman of the Year, the 2021 WGCA D-III Player of the Year and the 2022 Inkster Award (D-III) recipient. She also holds countless MU season and career records.
 
Drinkard's success has been exemplary in the classroom, as well. She was named a WGCA All-American Scholar all four years, including being named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American team the last two seasons. It comes to no surprise that she had one of the top-five GPAs in her graduating class. For these accomplishments, she was chosen by her peers to be this year's Distinguished Graduate and to speak at graduation.
 
Now her time as a Monarch is not done. She's pursing her master's in business administration at Methodist and is still a part of the golf team, as she is using one of her two COVID years that was granted to all spring competing student-athletes by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).