MURFREESBORO
— MTSU’s spring Class of 2016 undergraduates had a perfect day to start
the rest of their lives Saturday, May 7, armed with new university degrees and
words of inspiration from Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and HBO executive Kary
Antholis.
“Your GPA is not a tattoo you’ll wear for the rest
of your life,” Barry, the first woman and the first Metro Council member
elected Nashville mayor, told the Class of 2016 morning graduates in Murphy
Center. “It’s not the sum of who you are.
“As one MTSU graduate on my staff said, ‘You can
never learn less; you can only learn more.’ Experience as much as you can.
Read. Listen to music. Travel. Go to movies, plays and art galleries. Meet
people. Stretch your imagination, and extend your sense of what’s possible.”
Antholis, president of HBO Miniseries and Cinemas
Programming, reminded graduates at the afternoon ceremony that while they have
many more accomplishments ahead, they should also keep in mind those who helped
them reach their goals.
Explaining that his Oscar-winning documentary on
Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein, “One Survivor Remembers,” had its
impetus in his own mother’s family’s horror in Greece at the hands of the
Nazis, Antholis recalled Mrs. Klein’s beautiful, gracious words that night and
their impact since. (You can see Mrs. Klein’s speech at http://youtu.be/5zn-fPM4KS0.)
“You do earn success with hard work and
self-reliance, but you also will be served by remaining mindful of the people
who’ve helped you along the way,” Antholis said.
“As you go forward and build your lives, enjoy
success and endure setbacks, please know that you will always be well-served by
honoring the voices, values and love of those who have supported you and made
sacrifices for you.”
A total of 2,034 undergraduates received their
degrees on the breezy spring Saturday. The morning event included students from
the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, the Jones College of Business, the
College of Education, and the College of Media and Entertainment. The afternoon
ceremony featured students in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences,
College of Liberal Arts, and the University College.
Tennessee State Historian Carroll Van West, a
longtime MTSU professor and director of the university’s Center for Historic
Preservation, addressed the university’s first separate ceremony May 6,
where 349 received their doctorate, master’s and education specialist degrees.
You can learn more about that event at http://ow.ly/aSEX3000aDX.
New MTSU graduate Kara Lane’s aspirations don’t
take her far from home or heart. The Beech Grove, Tennessee, resident, who grew
up on a beef cattle farm, earned her bachelor’s degree in animal science with
an eye toward becoming a veterinarian.
“I’ve just always had a love and passion for
animals,” said Lane, who’s applying to the University of Tennessee, Mississippi
State and the University of Virginia in her quest to open a practice for
animals of all kinds.
“I’ve always been interested in animal surgery.
When I was younger, one of my dogs got sick and I just … felt helpless. They
say that (small animal practice) is where the money is, but it’s not about the
money for me. It’s about helping the animals.”
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee encouraged that
sort of perspective in his address to the graduates.
“You’ll become part of the distinguished history of
this institution,” he said. “We make up more than just an academic community;
we are a family.”
New graduate Alison Todd, 21, of Murfreesboro
represents the fourth generation of her family’s affiliation with MTSU. A cum
laude graduate with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and minors in French
and Spanish from the College of Liberal Arts and the University Honors College,
Todd played in the Band of Blue, was president of the Sigma Alpha Iota music
fraternity and worked in multiple campus offices.
“This is a culmination of a lot of hard work and
time teachers have given me. It is a big deal — everything I ever worked for,”
said Todd, who will spend the summer at an archaeological field school in
Romania, Greece and England, then take a year off in a volunteer
reading/speaking English role before attending graduate school to study
forensic anthropology.
You can see photos from the day’s events at http://facebook.com/mtsublueraiders.
A PDF copy of the complete spring 2016 commencement
program, which includes all the graduates’ names and degrees, is available at http://ow.ly/wjeI3000Nhm.
Graduation information — including links to maps
and driving directions to MTSU, cap-and-gown information, official photographs
and contacts for the Registrar’s Office — is available anytime at http://www.mtsunews.com/graduation-info.
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