Entrepreneur Shawn Boyer
“Most of us don’t think about our life plans as much as our business plans,” Boyer said.
Interim Provost Ian Newbould, the University’s chief academic officer, opened Saturday’s ceremony. President Hurley; Daniel K. Steen ’84, rector of the Board of Visitors; and Class President Nicholas A. DeSarno ’12 offered their welcomes. DeSarno recognized the many unnamed people whose support and sacrifice helped students become graduates, applauded his fellow graduates’ hard work, and recognized the countless shared moments, the sum of which are the “inexorable bond” of Mary Washington alumni.
“Right here at Ball Circle most of us have some special memory. From Devil-Goat Day to celebrations and cookouts, or simply tossing a Frisbee,” DeSarno said. “We are all going to miss the amount of time we spent with friends or playing a collegiate sport, lazy afternoons bench-sitting on Campus Walk, and the satisfaction of getting a good grade in a hard class.”
A graduate finds art on a mortar board.
At the ceremony’s beginning, the University Philharmonic played Pomp and Circumstance as the students and faculty processed onto Ball Circle. Strings and horns gave way to pipes and drums as the Eagle Pipe Band struck up the processional for the BOV, the cabinet, and then the President.
With the sun high in the sky, awards and honors presented, and the last diploma given, it was time again for music. Mary Elizabeth Herdman ’12 and Melodie Ann Stehling ’12 led the Alma Mater as the graduates and faculty sang along.
A brand new alumna displays her UMW diploma.
The Eagle Pipe Band led the recessional. Caps flew, diplomas unfurled, and graduates embraced those who came to celebrate their considerable achievement: graduation from the University of Mary Washington.