Aurora University Undergraduate Commencement 2020

Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony Sunday 2 August 2020

MISSION STATEMENT Aurora University is an inclusive community dedicated to the transformative power of learning. As a teaching-centered institution, we encourage undergraduate and graduate students to discover what it takes to build meaningful and examined lives. Our singular goal is to empower our students to achieve lasting personal and professional success.

STATEMENT OF CORE VALUES Aurora University draws upon the rich legacies of Aurora College and George Williams College to welcome learners to our campuses in Illinois and Wisconsin. Here all become members of an inclusive educational community dedicated to the development of mind, body, and spirit. Today, as in the past, we prize the twin virtues of character and scholarship and affirm our commitment to the values of integrity, citizenship, continuous learning, and excellence.

We will adhere to the highest standards of integrity in every aspect of institutional practice and operation. Through this proven dedication to honesty, respect, fairness, and ethical conduct, we will lead by example and inspire our students to do the same.

We will exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in an educational community, founded upon the principles of mutual respect and open discourse. We will live within our means and manage our resources wisely while creating an environment that fosters teamwork and promotes service to others.

We will work and live as an organization devoted to continuous learning.

We recognize that the university exists in a diverse and changing world and know that we will succeed in helping students achieve their full potential only if we realize our own. We seek a growth process that is never-ending.

We will pursue excellence by embracing quality as a way of community life. Accordingly, we will set high expectations for ourselves, our students, and our university and will work together to attain them.

The university’s core values are the foundation upon which our aspirations rest. They undergird our belief in the transformative power of learning.

As members of the Aurora University community, we enter into a voluntary compact with one another to live, learn, and work in ways consistent with these ideals.

Aurora University Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony Sunday 2 August 2020

Prelude Pomp and Circumstance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sir Edward Elgar The Alma Mater: Aurora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ross K. Tilton, Class of 1917 Aurora University Chorale; Joyce Lawson, piano Conducted by Lisa Fredenburgh, DMA, The Roger Parolini Endowed Professor of Music Words are printed on the last page of the program.

Welcome Rebecca L. Sherrick, PhD, President

Invocation Mark Woolfington ’93, DMin, University Chaplain

Greetings Hilary Brennan ’83, Chair, Board of Trustees

Reflections Rebecca L. Sherrick, PhD, President

Conferral of Degrees Frank Buscher, PhD, Vice President for Academic Affairs Rebecca L. Sherrick, PhD, President The Degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Social Work

President’s Charge to the Graduates

Benediction Mark Woolfington ’93, DMin, University Chaplain

Postlude How Can I Keep From Singing?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Wadsworth Lowry arr. Bradley Ellingboe Aurora University Chorale; Joyce Lawson, piano Conducted by Lisa Fredenburgh, DMA, The Roger Parolini Endowed Professor of Music

BACHELOR OF ARTS

Stacy Bellack Cum Laude

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BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING

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BACHELOR OF SOCIAL WORK

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ACADEMIC CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS The Presidential Chain The presidential chain prominently features gold ivy leaves. Early in the 20th century, John W. Beach, professor of Greek and Latin, suggested that ivy leaves growing on the outside of Eckhart Hall could be awarded to students showing exceptional academic achievement each semester.

In 1932, Aurora College created the Gold Ivy Leaf Award. The tradition continues today as the university recognizes its most outstanding students each spring at the Honors Convocation.

Three medallions tell the story of Aurora University. One features the Aurora College seal and another the George Williams College seal. There are striking similarities to the two emblems. One features a torch and the other a lamp of learning, powerful testimony to our understanding that education is a source of illumination and truth — the transformative power of learning. The two college seals find their final expression in the new Aurora University emblem encircled with the signature AU blue. In higher education, presidential chains and medallions indicate that the wearer is the highest office holder at institutional ceremonies.

The Academic Ceremonial Mace The university mace was designed to represent the founding schools of Aurora University — Aurora College and George Williams College. The mace, originally a weapon used in the Middle Ages, has over the centuries become a symbol of order and authority. The design of the center head of the mace links Aurora College and George Williams College to Aurora University. The center head also includes the university seal.

The mace is carried by a university official in the processions that begin and end academic exercises, such as Convocation and Commencement, and immediately precedes the president. When it is not being used in university ceremonies, the mace is displayed in the president’s office.

Regalia At Aurora University, academic regalia is worn on ceremonial occasions, in a manner consistent with a tradition that finds its origins in the Middle Ages. As early as 1321, university degree holders wore costumes designed to reflect their particular status and roles. In addition to signaling differences in rank, the garments also served functional purposes. For example, the long gown provided necessary warmth in the drafty buildings of the time. Since each institution of higher learning

was free to develop its own distinctive regalia, many different forms of academic dress are found within the European tradition.

American colleges and universities opted for a greater degree of uniformity.

Their representatives gathered at Columbia University in 1895 to devise common standards for academic regalia. In the United States, gowns distinguish the rank of the wearer. For instance, the bachelor’s gown is unadorned and is characterized by wide sleeves that are pointed at the hem. The gowns worn by master’s degree recipients also are unadorned, but have curiously elongated sleeves. Doctoral gowns are trimmed with velvet facings down the front. Their bell-shaped sleeves are trimmed with three velvet bars across the sleeves. Graduates of most American colleges and universities wear black gowns. However, some institutions provide for special variations. For example, doctoral recipients from Harvard University wear crimson gowns; those from Yale University wear blue; and individuals holding doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University wear maroon and purple, respectively.

Black mortarboards are standard to most institutions of higher learning, although some feature soft velvet tams or Elizabethan caps. Traditionally, candidates for degrees wear the tassels on their mortarboards on the right, while those upon whom degrees have been conferred wear them on the left. Recipients of doctoral degrees may wear either black or gold tassels.

Hoods provide the color in an academic procession. These garments, which today serve only ceremonial purposes, are worn fastened at the front of the collar and draped over the shoulders in such a way as to display the linings, which represent the color of the university awarding the degree. The hoods also have velvet linings in colors that represent particular disciplines or fields of study. Those worn by graduates in arts and letters, for example, are trimmed in white velvet, while those worn by degree recipients in education are trimmed in light blue velvet.

AWARDS AND HONORS Distinguished members of the graduating class are eligible to receive a number of awards and honors, including the following: Graduation Honors — Undergraduate candidates with exceptional academic records will receive special recognition during the ceremony. These

students achieved an outstanding grade-point average and completed their course of study with a minimum of 30 semester hours at Aurora University.

Honors based on grade-point average: » Summa Cum Laude: 3.90 to 4.00 » Magna Cum Laude: 3.75 to 3.899 » Cum Laude: 3.50 to 3.749 Gold Ivy Leaf Award — This award represents superior scholarship for those undergraduates who have completed a minimum of 90 semester hours for a letter grade at Aurora University and are graduating with at least Magna Cum Laude honors. Students who earn this recognition are awarded a gold medallion.

Lincoln Laureate — Each year an outstanding senior from each of the fouryear degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois is awarded the Student Lincoln Academy Medallion and thereby becomes a Student Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Student Laureates are honored for their overall excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.

Military Recognition — This acknowledgement is given to undergraduate and graduate students who have honorably served, are serving, or are commissioned to serve in the United States military. Students are recognized by a red, white, and blue cord, signifying Aurora University’s appreciation for their service and dedication.

Omicron Delta Kappa — Eligibility for membership in the National Leadership Honor Society is given to undergraduates who are juniors and seniors and based on established national guidelines, which include ranking in the upper 35 percent in scholarship and showing leadership in at least one of five areas of campus life, such as scholarship, athletics, community service, journalism, and the arts.

Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society — Eligibility for membership in the Freshman Honor Society is based on first-time, full-time university attendance and a term grade-point average of 3.50 during the freshman year.

Spartan Award — The Spartan Award is presented to a graduating senior who has made outstanding contributions to the life of the university. Students nominated embody the university’s commitment

to character and scholarship. Selection criteria include at least two of the following categories: » Leadership role(s) in a recognized student organization that demonstrates the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in an educational setting. » Leadership role(s) in a recognized athletic field that serves others in continuous learning and improvement. » Service to the community indicative of respect, fairness, and ethical conduct.

As the speaker calls the name of our various graduates, please refer to these special recognitions in your program.

AURORA UNIVERSITY Aurora University traces its origins to the 1893 founding of a seminary in the small town of Mendota, Illinois. Though established initially to prepare graduates for ministry, the institution soon adopted a broader mission and moved to a new campus on the western edge of the nearby community of Aurora. With this change came a different name and a growing enrollment. When World War II ended, the campus population swelled again as veterans enrolled in the college’s innovative evening degree program. The 1970s and 1980s saw an expansion of curricular offerings in a number of professional fields and the awarding of advanced degrees in selected disciplines. These changes culminated in the 1985 decision to rechristen the institution Aurora University.

The roots of George Williams College run deep in the YMCA movement of the 19th century. In 1884, leaders from America’s western YMCAs gathered in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to attend a summer training program. Two years later, the camp was incorporated and the first parcel of the current Williams Bay campus was purchased. Since that time, “college camp” has been a source of inspiration, recreation, education, and renewal for thousands of guests and students. In 1992, the Aurora University and George Williams College traditions blended when the two institutions entered into the affiliation agreement that paved the way for merger eight years later.

Today Aurora University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission to award degrees at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels. The

institution enrolls approximately 6,000 degree-seeking students a year on its Illinois and Wisconsin campuses and through its online program.

AU students participate in a wide range of on- and off-campus learning experiences. They can join more than 60 musical, literary, religious, social, and service organizations and play active roles in campus governance.

In addition, the university currently fields 24 NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletic teams.