{"id":25333,"date":"2023-05-04T13:43:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T17:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=25333"},"modified":"2023-05-10T14:27:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T18:27:40","slug":"commencement-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/commencement-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement launches Class of 2023 on next pathway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Livestream >><\/a><\/h4>\n

Photo gallery >><\/a><\/h4>\n

Commencement address by Tomiko Brown-Nagin \u201992 >><\/a><\/h4>\n

Student address by Mary Elizabeth Morrison \u201923 >><\/a><\/h4>\n

2023 student and faculty awards >><\/a><\/h4>\n

2023 Senior Spotlight >><\/a><\/h4>\n

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In August 2019, hundreds of students began their college experience with a walk down Furman Mall toward McAlister Auditorium for the Opening Convocation ceremony<\/a>. Saturday evening, they walked together again \u2013 in the other direction \u2013 into Paladin Stadium for the Commencement ceremony celebrating the end of that journey.<\/p>\n

As she was four years ago, Furman President Elizabeth Davis was there to welcome the Class of 2023, along with their families and friends in the stands for Furman\u2019s 197th year. On the field, the musicians of the Furman Symphonic Band and the Furman Singers joined the student marshals and ushers \u2013 who, Davis noted, delayed their summer vacations for the occasion.<\/p>\n

Honoring scholarship and service<\/h3>\n
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Furman University President Elizabeth Davis<\/p><\/div>\n

Davis also acknowledged the members of the Class of 1973 who had come to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their own Commencement, and she took special notice of the legacy families \u2013 the graduating students who followed previous generations to Furman \u2013 as well as the first-generation students who were the first in their families to earn a college degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for making Furman part of your family\u2019s story,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Lauren Pollino \u201923 and the other senior class Student Government Association representatives presented the class gift<\/a>: a check for $13,845 that had been raised since November 2022 toward various campus funds.<\/p>\n

Special recognition for students and faculty followed, with Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Beth Pontari and Board of Trustees Chair Kevin T. Byrne \u201991 joining Davis to present awards<\/a> for excellence in scholarship, teaching and advising. Davis also acknowledged seven faculty members \u2013 with a combined 233 years of service to Furman \u2013 retiring<\/a> as the school year ends.<\/p>\n

\u2018A place where people can belong\u2019<\/h3>\n

\u201cBelonging has been at the core of who I am for as long as I can remember,\u201d said student speaker Mary Morrison \u201923<\/a>, who was adopted as an infant in Bucharest, Romania.<\/p>\n

Morrison, a psychology major who plans to pursue a doctorate in occupational therapy, thanked adopted family for \u201cmy support, my love and my strength,\u201d before turning her attention to her Furman family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at you, Furman, and know where I got my passion, my confidence, and where I found myself,\u201d she concluded. \u201cThank you for making this a place where people can belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reason, truth and engagement<\/h3>\n
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Tomiko Brown-Nagin \u201992<\/p><\/div>\n

The conferring of degrees started with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for this year\u2019s Commencement speaker, Tomiko Brown-Nagin \u201992<\/a>, a leading historian on law and society \u201cwho embodies the highest ideals of a just, educated society characterized by access to opportunity and the pursuit of change,\u201d said Davis.<\/p>\n

After receiving her doctoral hood from Pontari, Brown-Nagin, dean of Harvard University\u2019s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, took the podium. After a quick shout-out to Furman\u2019s men\u2019s basketball team<\/a>, she encouraged the Class of 2023 to \u201cuse reason, pursue truth, and be courageous as you pursue a better world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The success of the Civil Rights movement was \u201cborn of dissent and engagement,\u201d said Brown-Nagin, the author of two books on the history of the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our nation is to thrive, and if our democracy is to flourish in the 21st century, we must engage with one another, even \u2013 and especially \u2013 when we disagree,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We will be here for you\u2019<\/h3>\n

Dean of Faculty Jeremy Cass ’00 then presented the candidates for the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science and Education Specialist. Five hundred and twenty-five students crossed the stage to shake hands with Davis and receive their diplomas.<\/p>\n

SGA President Joshua Swope \u201923 repeated the elaborate handshake<\/a> he and Davis had debuted during the Convocation ceremony in Fall 2022. Gresham Brown received his Educational Specialist degree as his children, Commencement marshals Louisa Brown \u201924 and Hayes Brown \u201926, watched from the field.<\/p>\n

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More than 500 students received degrees during Commencement 2023.<\/p><\/div>\n

The walk to the podium that began with Convocation four years ago had not always been smooth, Davis told the new graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe celebrated each other\u2019s successes and comforted one another through disappointment and loss,\u201d Davis said, adding that Janet Kwami, a professor of communication studies, had died the evening before: \u201cWe will miss her dearly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou faced and overcame many challenges and obstacles over your four years at Furman, including a global pandemic that disrupted your first year and impacted much of your time here,\u201d said Davis. \u201cWhen college students behind you complain about how hard college is, you can say, \u2018Really? Let me tell you what hard looks like.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But they persisted on their pathway with resilience, Davis said, developing the strengths they would need as their journeys continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited for whatever comes next for you,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s because I believe Furman, and your experience here, have prepared you for successful and meaningful lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before a performance of the Alma Mater and a benediction concluded the ceremony, Davis made one final request of the Class of 2023: Keep in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect you to engage with your university and the Furman family,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will be here for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallery: Furman University Commencement 2023<\/h3>\n