{"id":9884,"date":"2022-05-05T16:16:57","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T16:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2022\/05\/13\/commencement-2022\/"},"modified":"2023-04-27T19:44:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T23:44:02","slug":"commencement-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/commencement-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 2022 celebrates with family and community at Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read the commencement address by Cynthia L. Davis ’84<\/em><\/a>
\nRead the student address by Yunji Rosie Kim ’22<\/em><\/a>
\n2022 student and faculty awards<\/em><\/a>
\n2022 Senior Spotlights<\/a>
\nView the archived livestream here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

By 5 p.m. Saturday, there were already a few of them dotting the length of Furman Mall \u2013 students looking for the perfect backdrop to pose in cap and gown for a parent\u2019s smartphone pic. By 7 p.m., there were more than 600 in full regalia, ready for the traditional procession into Paladin Stadium. And at the end of Furman University\u2019s 2022 Commencement ceremony, all of them would walk out of the stadium again, this time as Furman\u2019s newest alumni.<\/p>\n

After the procession \u2013 accompanied by the Furman Symphonic Band playing \u201cPomp and Circumstance\u201d \u2013 and an invocation from University Chaplain Vaughn CroweTipton, Furman President Elizabeth Davis welcomed the students seated on the field along with their loved ones watching from the stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted that family and friends are here to share this evening with the undergraduate and graduate degree candidates, who are the stars of this show,\u201d Davis said from the podium.<\/p>\n

Among the Class of 2022, the president noted, were 87 students who had a family member who previously attended the university. She recognized those legacy students from the podium, along with a group of students who were the first in their families to earn a college degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo each of you, we honor and celebrate this milestone,\u201d she told the first-generation students. \u201cPerhaps this is the occasion of a new start of a family tradition for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honoring community with opportunity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Family and community were recurring motifs for many Commencement speakers, including Kenneth William Brian \u201922, who presented the Senior Class Gift. The Class of 2022 Staff Community Scholarship will provide access to education for a full- or part-time Furman staff member, spouse or legal dependent in pursuit of education at any accredited two or four-year college or university.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs graduating seniors, it\u2019s hard not to think about this particular group of people \u2013 Furman staff \u2013 who have supported our experiences,\u201d Brian said as he presented Davis with a check for $25,167.67 to support the scholarship. \u201cWe are pleased to have this opportunity to honor them and their aspirations for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

After thanking Brian and his classmates, Davis, assisted by Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Kenneth Peterson and Board of Trustees Chair P. Edwin Good \u201967, began the awards presentation<\/a>. Awards included the General Excellence Awards, the Scholarship Cup, and the Alester G. Furman Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Awards for Meritorious Teaching and Advising.<\/p>\n

\u2018Worlds colliding\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Graduating senior Yunji Rosie Kim, an international student, continued the family theme in her student address.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single time I say \u2018bye\u2019 to my family for the school year, it always causes such emotional struggles,\u201d Kim said. \u201cFor the first time, I feel the same way about leaving a place that is not South Korea \u2013 my new home: Furman University.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senior acknowledged the challenge of attending college during COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we can talk forever about how much the pandemic ruined our lives, I hope we learned to see the light in the darkness,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThe pandemic gave me the ability to pause and reflect. To connect the dots in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she concluded her address, Kim recognized her parents, who had traveled from South Korea for their daughter\u2019s graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey raised and supported me as I built a new home in a different world that they never got to see,\u201d she said tearfully. \u201cThey are finally here to see my other home and family, and I am so grateful for my two worlds colliding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Be the one\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, Cynthia L. Davis \u201984<\/a>, former vice president of Nike Inc. and president of Nike Golf, picked up the theme of rising to challenges in her Commencement address. But first, she reassured the seniors that, having politely sat through a such a speech as a student (and standout collegiate golfer) herself 38 years ago, she sympathized with their plight.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2019m fully aware that I\u2019m what stands between you receiving your diploma and officially launching into the world,\u201d she told them.<\/p>\n

She also understood the challenges they will face.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to be called to leadership in ways that are more important and likely complicated than ever, no matter what path you take,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there is so, so much opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis urged the seniors to rise to whatever occasions they encounter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy advice to you: Be the one to answer that call,\u201d she said. \u201cBe the one to have that courage. Because we \u2013 and when I talk about \u2018we,\u2019 I mean the world \u2013 are counting on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Make a difference\u2019<\/h3>\n

The highlight of the ceremony was the conferring of degrees. As the candidates filed across the stage and Dean of Faculty Jeremy Cass announced their names, President Davis shook hands and handed over more than 600 Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science and Education Specialist degrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hereby confer upon each of you the appropriate degree with all of its rights and responsibilities,\u201d she told the graduates. \u201cCongratulations!\u201d<\/p>\n

As the ovation from friends and family echoed through Paladin Stadium, President Davis continued to weave the threads of family and community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe build community when we share experiences, and during our four years here together, we have done just that,\u201d she told the students. \u201cWe found ways to connect and form deep and lasting friendships. We celebrated successes and comforted each other through disappointment and loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis concluded with a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that we have inspired and nurtured your intellectual curiosity,\u201d she said. \u201cUse this curiosity to drive you to a better understanding of our world and its people. Use your understanding to make a difference in the communities in which you reside.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the president\u2019s wishes for the Class of 2022 to \u201ccontinue to thrive, prosper and grow,\u201d the ceremony concluded with a performance of the Alma Mater, a benediction from the chaplain and an orchestral postlude. As the last notes bounced off the walls of the already emptying stadium, the Class of 2022 was streaming off the field, on their way to celebrate with their own friends and communities, carrying their Furman experiences and memories with them along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the commencement address by Cynthia L. Davis ’84 Read the student address by Yunji Rosie Kim ’22 2022 student and faculty awards 2022 Senior Spotlights View the archived livestream […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":9885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,13,1],"tags":[147,858],"class_list":["post-9884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-president","category-top-four-news-4th-story","category-uncategorized","tag-147","tag-commencement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9884","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=9884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}