Saturday, May 12, 2007
Virginia Tech's graduation: The promise of tomorrow
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BLACKSBURG — Nearly a month after events that made them worry about things most students never have to think about, Virginia Tech’s seniors turned their attention back to traditional college concerns on their graduation day.
But whether they had just handed in their theses, were thinking about how to finish their senior projects or just looking for friends to hug in the crowd of black robes and mortarboards , they acknowledged that their graduation was not like any other in their school’s history. And they were reminded of it at a commencement ceremony Friday that honored 32 students and faculty killed in campus shootings April 16.
In addition to a tribute on the Lane Stadium Jumbotron that played as Tech President Charles Steger and Provost Mark McNamee handed out class rings to families of the victims, keynote speaker Gen. John Abizaid and Steger each offered words of support and admiration about how the students reacted to the tragedy in the past month.
“Revel in the joy of this day, celebrate your accomplishments,” Steger said. “Celebrate all those lives that have touched yours and helped bring you to this point. Reach out and hug them if you can. … You have united, and you have shown the world the meaning of 'Ut prosim,’ that I may serve. I love you all.”
As their classmates gathered around the stadium Friday evening Matt Winter and Jack Dooley were doing their best to revel in the day, having set up a tailgate in the Lane Stadium parking lot.
With fresh-cut pineapple, plump grapes, tortilla rolls and liquid refreshment, they celebrated their accomplishments.
Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
Graduates celebrate during the conferral of degrees during the graduation ceremony at Lane Stadium.
Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
Families of slain Virginia Tech students mourn after they were given posthumous degrees for the students.
Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger presents posthumous degrees to families of the slain Virginia Tech students.
Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
A graduate receives a hug at the end of the undergrad commencement held at Lane Stadium.
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Standing next to the silver sport utility vehicle that hosted the spread, Winter’s mother, Faith Winter, said the celebration means more after the events of last month.
“We didn’t want his five years here to end with the tragedy,” she said. “I think everybody’s just trying to make this enjoyable.”
In fact, outside and in the stadium, the graduation celebration was just that, a party.
Students scurried to one another , shrieking and dotting last-minute maroon and orange polka dots on their mortarboards.
A group of fewer than 30 ocean engineering graduates were to wear boats atop their black hats, a symbol of their hard work, graduate Clinton Jones, of Virginia Beach, Va., said as he waited for his adornment.
“I’m just happy to graduate,” he said.
After all, it took him six years, and two schools to do it. But the ceremony still meant more for some, who made certain they attended.
And it drew a somewhat larger crowd than years past as people filled up about half of Lane Stadium. Most of the speeches were positive, reflecting on lessons learned, trips to local bars and tickets to football games — while looking forward to the future.
That’s what most students said they wanted to hear as they lined up outside the stadium under clouds that looked ominous, but didn’t produce more than a few drops of rain.
Mechanical engineering major Emily Morgan said she was hoping for something inspirational Friday night.
“Not just for the graduating students, but for the whole university,” she said. “We all need just a little bit of love.”
As the graduating students shuffled into the stadium gates, they were asked to keep their gowns open and were each checked by security. Some were wearing dress shoes and heels under their gowns, while others sported sneakers and flip-flops.
Tim Spencer, a mechanical engineering major from Philadelphia, still has to complete his senior design project. He had planned on skipping Friday’s commencement and only attending the engineering college ceremony today .
“But it kind of means something a little different now,” he said. “We’re basically just trying to put a positive spin on the end of the year. This is our graduation. You only do this once.”
Winchester, Va., native Niki Napenas drove the four-hour twisting trek from Canaan Valley, W.Va., to return to Blacksburg for the final time. Wearing a bandanna, shorts and a buttoned-up shirt, the business graduate said he saw the day as an invitation to move on.
“After four years, it’s just time to go away,” he said.
Graduate Jennifer Boehm said she suspected that more people showed up this year not only to show support for the community but also as a symbol of overcoming the travails of last month.
“We feel like we’ve made it to the end of the year. We’ve made it through this tough time, and we’re here at graduation,” she said. “It’s a sigh of relief.”
Boehm knew one of the victims, Matthew La Porte, a member of Tech’s Corps of Cadets. The two were in the university’s regimental band, the Highty-Tighties, together. She described him as outgoing, cheerful and a bit of a jokester. Whether it was day or night, La Porte would sport a pair of sunglasses, Boehm said, adding that his motto was: “The sun never sets on a bad ass.”
Abizaid, who offered to step down as keynote speaker if the university wanted him to in light of the shootings, tried to sum up the mixed feelings of the crowd of students and families.
“It is our sacred duty to mourn those who lost their lives so suddenly and tragically and to help their friends and their families through these most difficult of times,” he said. “It is also our duty to recognize this commencement and to congratulate these families and these graduates for work accomplished and work yet to be accomplished.”
That dichotomy could be seen in the crowd, as onlookers dabbed their eyes while Steger recited the names of the shooting victims. But minutes later the tears gave way to smiles as the graduates’ degrees were conferred.
At the end of an ovation, the audience chanted lightly, “Hokies! Hokies!”
