Due to a record number of graduates, Lipscomb University held two commencement ceremonies for the spring 2014 graduates Saturday afternoon in Allen Arena.
Over 800 students received their undergrad, graduate or doctorate degrees in the ceremonies, including those who received Lipscomb’s first ever doctorate of ministry degrees.
During the undergraduate ceremony, Director of the Beaman Library and 30-year faculty member Carolyn Wilson offered words of wisdom for the graduating students.
“My father told me when I began my first career, which was teaching, that I should not determine success in terms of just monetary rewards,” Wilson said.
Lipscomb president Randy Lowry also spoke during the ceremony, commenting on the bittersweet feelings of graduation day.
“You’re on a path right now, and I know it’s hard to look back and look forward at the same time, but I want you to take a moment to think about that,” Lowry said. “Every path connects you not only to where you are going, but also to where you’ve been.
“I hope you spend time celebrating. The past is a wonderful thing for us to recognize. But then there’s the future. The future is in some ways very uncertain and in other ways not so much.”
During the undergraduate ceremony, David Sampson, President and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, was awarded with the prestigious Alumnus of the Year award.
Sampson has also worked in the government as the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce and assistant secretary of commerce for economic development in the George W. Bush administration.
In a change from the usual solo performance, Lipscomb’s Alma Mater was performed by three graduating seniors: Thomas Hammons, Tyler Osborne and Lincoln Mick.
A few Lumination staff members received their diplomas, including News Director Jael Teme, Managing Editor Bridgette Begle, News Editor/Social Media Manager Kyrsten Turner, Multimedia Editor and former News Director Sydney Poe and Staff Writer Carter Sanderson.
Lumination contributors Kelly Dean, Michael Fox, Savannah Hollis, T.J. Ojehomon, Savanna Schubert and Caitlin Selle also graduated.
(In the photo from left to right: Schubert, Turner, Fox, Poe, Begle, Dean).
Carousel photo courtesy of Lipscomb University’s Twitter page. Lumination graduates photo from Sydney Poe.
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