FERRUM, VA, April 22, 2025 – Ferrum College alumnus Billy Wagner ’94, recently elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, will be the guest speaker at the College’s 109th commencement ceremony. The graduating class of 2025 will be celebrated at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, at Hart International Plaza on the campus.
A native of Marion, Virginia, and graduate of Tazewell High School, Wagner had a record-setting baseball career at Ferrum from 1991 to 1993 before he was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1993. He ended his three-year Ferrum career as a 1993 first-team NCAA Division III All-American for the Panthers, with a 17-3 record and a 1.63 earned run average. He still holds the NCAA Division III single-season record for most strikeouts per nine innings in 1992, and the career record for most strikeouts per nine innings. He also played for a year as a starting defensive back on Ferrum’s football team in 1990.
During his 16 seasons as a pitcher in Major League Baseball, Wagner played for five different teams and he is one of only eight major league relief pitchers to accumulate at least 400 career saves. He is a seven-time MLB All-Star and was the 1999 MLB National League Rolaids Relief Award Winner.
After injuries in his youth, he learned to throw with his left hand, making him the only left-handed reliever elected to the Hall of Fame, as well as the first native of Virginia and first Division III college player.
Wagner was entered into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Since 2011, he has been the head baseball coach at the Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Virginia, leading winning teams every year. He is married to Ferrum College alumna Sarah Quesenberry ’94.
Wagner and his former Ferrum College roommate Erik Robinson ’94 started the Second Chance Learning Center 20 years ago to provide mentoring, tutoring, and scholarship opportunities for students of southwestern Virginia in sixth through twelfth grades who struggle with hardships, as Wagner did in his childhood. He has visited the campus over the years to support his alma mater, attending events such as a baseball gala called Step Up to the Plate on February 1 this year, and announcements over the past year of Ferrum College’s transition from Division III to begin competing with Conference Carolinas as an NCAA Division II school in Fall 2025.
“We are honored to welcome home our distinguished alumnus Billy Wagner as our 2025 commencement speaker,” said Ferrum College President Mirta Martin. “His recent induction into the MLB Hall of Fame, and a life shaped by excellence, perseverance, humility and service, make him the perfect symbol of Ferrum College’s enduring spirit. Billy stands as a bridge between generations—representing an era of excellence in Division III that we proudly close, and ushering in a new chapter filled with promise and purpose as a Division II school. Billy Wagner is both the echo of our proud past and the voice of our inspired future. He is, and always will be, the very spirit of Ferrum College.”
The commencement ceremony will honor more than 150 undergraduate and graduate students. Senior Class Present Makaila Veney, from Montross, Virginia, will be the senior class speaker.
A baccalaureate service for graduates and their families will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 2, in Vaughn Chapel. The Concert Choir will provide music at the service. For more information and links for live streaming, see https://www.ferrum.edu/academics/commencement-weekend/
