COLIN PERRY
Special to The Leader
As another academic year is coming to a close, another class of students is preparing for life beyond Fredonia. More than 1,300 students are eligible to participate in the upcoming commencement ceremony, and over 900 are expected to walk across the stage in Steele Hall on May 16.
Fredonia alumnus and Director of Human Resources at the Smithsonian Institution James D. Douglas will serve as the commencement speaker.
For many students, the end of college means entering the real world and embarking on the careers they’ve spent years working toward.
“The word ‘commencement’ is moving forward,” said senior political science and psychology dual major Shannon McHugh. “I’ve pretty much done all I can do here, and ‘commencement’ means moving on with my life.”
Graduating another class of seniors also means the end of the university’s mission in educating those students.
“[Commencement is] the culmination of a lot of hard work on the part of our students, and it’s an opportunity to celebrate their success and to wish them well as they go out into the world, looking for jobs or continuing their education at a higher level,” said Mike Lemieux, director of Campus Life and the Williams Center and chair of the commencement committee.
While it may not be as long as the four years most students put in toward their degrees, Lemieux and the rest of the committee have been planning this year’s ceremony since October, meaning more than half of a year is devoted to the event.
Of course, once the planning is done, the university puts forth a great effort in preparation. For example, according to Lemieux, it takes an entire month just to get the tickets organized. Then there are the aesthetic jobs (decorating Steele Hall or planting flowers), functional jobs (setting up for live-broadcast and providing a back-up) and the jobs that many students would never even realize (providing meals for volunteers).
“There’s a lot of hands involved,” said Lemieux.
All of the hard work pays off, though, once it’s time for the actual ceremony. There are many different elements of it for the students to enjoy, but most look forward to one moment in particular: their brief time in the spotlight.
“I’m excited mostly for my parents to see me walk across the stage,” senior history major Evan Gallagher said, adding, “I know what I’ve accomplished … but they need to see it. It’s more a moment for them.”
Lemieux agreed. “The excitement on the part of their families as they see them cross the stage [is] the highlight of commencement, for me.”
Another important element of the commencement ceremony is the keynote address. This year’s speaker has students like Gallagher, a museum studies minor, even more excited.
“It’s really exciting to see someone who’s been successful in something you want to do,” said Gallagher. “I think most museum studies people have at least some aspiration of working for the Smithsonian, so seeing someone who did it, and you can see his career trajectory and it working out for him, it’s very encouraging.”
But then there are, of course, bittersweet elements to a college graduation. Leaving Fredonia also means leaving a place where seeing friends is a day-to-day guarantee, rather than something to work for. McHugh, for example, has bonded over the last four years with her teammates in Blackhorse Rugby.
“Some of [us] are sad we’re leaving, because we’re such a close group of friends, and we’re all going to miss each other a lot,” she said. But she was quick to add that “everyone is ready.”
In some regards, commencement is just another day out of the year. But for those soon to graduate, it’s the end of one adventure, and the start of an even bigger one.
“I hope that the senior class takes everything they learned from Fredonia, and the friendships and all the education they’ve had, and take it with them and use it to their best ability,” McHugh said.