Palm Beach Atlantic will honor 2017 graduate Carter Viss with its Alumni Achievement Award during Homecoming & Family Weekend Sept. 29 — Oct. 2.
The university will celebrate Viss at a luncheon noon to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Weyenberg Center. Attendance is free; registration is required, as space is limited. View the full schedule for Homecoming & Family Weekend here.
On Thanksgiving Day 2019, Viss was struck by a 36-foot boat while snorkeling on the Breakers Reef. He lost his right arm on impact and had severe damage to both of his legs and left wrist. After making a miraculous recovery, Viss teamed up with the boat’s driver to make positive changes in the diving and boating communities. By improving the visibility of diver-down devices and reducing boat speeds in close proximity to the beach, he hopes to make the oceans a safer place for humans and marine life.
Viss grew up in Denver, Colorado, with a passion for fish and marine life. He graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree in marine biology. He works as the aquarist at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, and has been there for more than five years.
Other Homecoming & Family Weekend events include chapel services and an Anchor worship night, a special Workship project, a trivia night and Sailgating (PBA’s version of tailgating) at the Rinker Athletic Center before the men’s soccer game.
Another Homecoming highlight and one of PBA’s longest-standing traditions, the 40th annual Great American Bug Race, returns 3 p.m. Sept. 29 on the Rinker Green. Students, parents, alumni, staff, faculty and members of the community are invited to buy and race cockroaches in this fundraiser run by the Science Club.
