{"id":9362,"date":"2021-05-15T20:05:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-15T20:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/06\/commencement-2020\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:40:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:40:47","slug":"commencement-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/commencement-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You flipped the script\u2019: Class of 2020 welcomed home for overdue Commencement celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/features\/commencement-2020-gallery\/\"><em>View a gallery of photos from Commencement<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em><a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/15\/commencement-address-by-the-rev-deb-richardson-moore\/\">Read commencement address by Deb Richardson-Moore<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/15\/2020-student-address\/\"><em>Read student address by Emily Rose Zeytoonjian \u201920<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em><a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/17\/commencement-poem-by-zachary-hughes-20\/\">Read commencement poem by Zachary Hughes<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/17\/commencement-poem-by-zachary-hughes-20\/\"> \u201920<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<em><a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/02\/10\/furman-celebrates-honors-graduates-class-of-2020\/\">2020 honors graduates<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<em><a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/15\/students-faculty-honored-at-2020-and-2021-commencement-ceremonies\/\">2020 student and faculty awards<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/senior-spotlight-2020\/\"><br \/>\n2020 Senior Spotlights<\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=D-fgeYTJX40\"><em>View the archived livestream<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It all happened the way it was supposed to. The procession down the Mall in caps and gowns; the band, speeches and prayers in Paladin Stadium; and the walk across the stage as their names were called.<\/p>\n<p>For Furman\u2019s class of 2020, it all just happened about a year later than expected.<\/p>\n<p>Last spring, the students sat down at at home and watched President Elizabeth Davis confer their degrees virtually <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/414828219\/e69a4e74c6\">through an online video<\/a> \u2013 promising them they would have their own commencement ceremony, in person and on campus, when the COVID-19 crisis allowed. And on Saturday, May 15, it all happened.<\/p>\n<p>More than 350 graduates from the class of 2020 returned for the event, filing into the stadium at 1 p.m. as the brass quintet played Edward Elgar\u2019s \u201cPomp and Circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am humbled by your understanding, patience and grace \u2013 and your resilience,\u201d Davis said from the stage, which was decorated with flowers in memory of student James Campbell-Laing. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to recognize this with the in-person ceremony you requested, earned and deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jaylon Goodwin \u201920, president of the class of 2020, presented the Senior Class Gift \u2013 a check for more than $40,000 to the <a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.furman.edu\/furman-united\">Furman United Scholarship Fund<\/a> \u2013 followed by the airing of a <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/542275201\">special video tribute<\/a> to last year\u2019s graduates. The video acknowledged that students \u201cwere filled with disappointment, grief and uncertainty\u201d after last year\u2019s Commencement celebration was delayed.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/542275201?color=ffffff&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/542275201\">Furman University || Class of 2020 Tribute<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/furman\">Furman University<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut months later, on a night made special again, we celebrate a little louder \u2013 because of you, class of 2020,&#8221; the narrator said, over footage of Furman students at home, in caps and gowns, smiling and showing off diplomas, honoring graduation during the lockdown. \u201cYou flipped the script. You took seclusion and turned it into solidarity. You took trials and turned them into triumph. You took disappointment, and you turned it into sacrifice for the greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the presentation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/academic-affairs\/student-academic-honors\/\">General Excellence Medals, the Scholarship Cup and the Alester G. Furman Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Awards for Meritorious Teaching and Advising<\/a>, Emily Rose Zeytoonjian \u201920 rose to address her classmates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should have been here a year ago, but how lucky we are that this university has deemed us worthy of a graduation, no matter the date,\u201d she said in her <a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/15\/2020-student-address\/\">student address<\/a>. \u201cThe fact that we have all gathered here today proves that we are unstoppable survivors determined to finish this journey together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Rev. Deb Richardson-Moore, author and retired pastor of Greenville\u2019s Triune Mercy Center, received an honorary Doctorate in Divinity degree before delivering <a href=\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/2021\/05\/15\/commencement-address-by-the-rev-deb-richardson-moore\/\">her Commencement address<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m especially grateful for this doctorate,\u201d Richardson-Moore quipped as she came to the podium. \u201cLet me just say it cost me a lot less than my Master of Divinity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her address began by acknowledging the challenges the 2020 graduates had faced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuite frankly, you have been robbed of something, and it is appropriate to grieve that loss,\u201d she said. \u201cSo the only real question as we emerge from this dismal year is: What next? What next? What are you going to do with that liberal arts degree?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her suggestion? \u201cAnything,\u201d she said. \u201cAnything at all. For you have learned how to think, to reason, to research, to query, to question. You have had the incredible opportunity to take four years to look at the world as a whole, and to consider your place in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The graduates\u2019 choices are \u201cwide, wide open,\u201d she said. \u201cBut here\u2019s the thing you will discover: It doesn\u2019t matter so much the career or job you choose as the integrity and authenticity with which you operate in that career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With that, it was time for the class of 2020 to finally do in person what they had been unable to do last spring: walk across the stage at Paladin Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>As Dean of Faculty Jeremy Cass called their names, the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts and Master of Science degree candidates received their diplomas and exchanged fist-bumps with their university&#8217;s president.<\/p>\n<p>Then, back on the stadium field, purple portfolios in hand, they finally heard Davis repeat \u2013 in person \u2013 the words they had heard her say from their screens at home last May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hereby confer upon each of you the appropriate degree, with all its rights and responsibilities,\u201d she said. \u201cCongratulations!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After hearty applause, the president then added one more personal word to the graduates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis commencement, really, is just one more step in your journey of a lifetime of learning. At a minimum, I hope Furman has taught you how much more there is to learn along the way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay you continue to thrive, prosper and grow,\u201d Davis concluded. \u201cGood luck, and godspeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The singing of the Alma Mater, a benediction and a postlude marked the official end of an unprecedented homecoming of sorts for the class of 2020, who exited Paladin Stadium to return to their new hometowns and the postcollegiate lives they began one year ago.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\nThe gallery was not found!\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>View a gallery of photos from Commencement Read commencement address by Deb Richardson-Moore Read student address by Emily Rose Zeytoonjian \u201920 Read commencement poem by Zachary Hughes \u201920 2020 honors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":9363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}