2021 Commencement

NEWS AROUND CAMPUS CongratulationsGraduates!

Alumnus Jason Headley ’96 delivers the Commencement address to the Class of 2022. Two separate ceremonies were hosted to allow students to invite numerous guests. Davis & Elkins College alumnus and Pixar writer Jason Headley ’96 hopes the Class of 2022 will remember his Commencement speech. What he set out to do may have been successful – lines from his address peppered with humor and steady advice have become catch phrases among attendees. After graduating from D&E with degrees in environmental science and political science, Headley took a different turn in his career. He co-wrote Pixar’s “Lightyear” and “Onward.” He also wrote and directed the SXSW Special Jury Prize-winning feature “A Bad Idea Gone Wrong.” His short films – including the viral videos “It’s Not About the Nail” and “F*ck That: An Honest Meditation” – have been featured at Banksy’s Dismaland, NBC’s “TODAY Show,” SundanceTV, the TED Conference and Vimeo Staff Picks, among others. In his speech, Headley intertwined his memories of campus – serving two terms as Student Assembly president and hanging out in The Icehouse – with the fears of uncertainty he had on graduation day. Noting that he remembered little about the speaker at his commencement, he was compelled to give students and their guests something more as he stood at the podium. “I have to assume what hasn’t changed is that all of you are equally selfabsorbed and aren’t going to remember anything I say here,” Headley said. “Unless … I really stick it. And I’m competitive. I want to win your graduation. But what do I really have to offer?” In a humorous manner that still make practical sense Headley gave a little financial advice: “Do not loan money to your drummer.” “Always carry cash. You’re a grownup now, carry cash. And any grownups in the room who don’t carry cash, grow up.”

In her message “Be That Nurse,” D&E Professor of Nursing Dr. Denice Reese encouraged graduates to go the extra mile, love fiercely and know the impact they may have on those in their care.

Tylyn Asterino and Amiah Banks wave good-bye to their undergraduate careers as they get ready to receive their diplomas. Alessandro Trujilio and Michael Utt (right) make their way to the afternoon Commencement ceremony for students in Business & Entrepreneurship, Natural Sciences and Nursing. Participating in two Baccalaureate ceremonies are, from left, Benfield-Vick Chaplain the Rev. Laura Brekke Wagoner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mark Barber ’75, student speakers and members of the Class of 2022 Reagan Sharp, Andrew Shand and Eliana McCutcheon, Baccalaureate speaker Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Charleston the Rev. Dr. Bill Myers and President Chris A. Wood.

“If you want something and you don’t have the money for it, just wait till you have the money,” Headley said. “Sometimes you’ll luck out – by the time you get the money for it, you won’t even want the thing you thought you wanted in the first place. And there, you just taught yourself a lesson on the fickle nature of desire without having to pay for that lesson in monthly installments at a punishing interest rate.” Turning to a deeper sense, Headley encouraged the graduates to be thoughtful. “Dare to take the time to think,” Headley said. “Don’t get caught in the grinding gears of what a wise friend of mine calls ‘argue-tainment.’ Just the sport of arguing. Online, in person, on air, everywhere, it’s consuming us.” Instead, Headley told graduates they should offer others the benefit of the doubt. “Think of them as a whole person,” Headley explained. “A person who makes mistakes, just like you do, who might hold onto a hurtful, or fractured, or logically incomplete way of thinking for far too long simply because change is uncomfortable.” Headley reminded the graduates that sometimes they might be wrong, still they need to remain thoughtful, keep an open mind and leave room for growth and change.

“In my experience, that is the very best part of this whole ride,” Headley said. “Because I don’t know if there’s a meaning of life. But I do know there’s meaning to life. And it shows itself to us when we pay attention. When we’re thoughtful.” To inspire graduates to overcome future challenges, Headley offered simple, but direct advice: “Get up.” “Sometimes the dark days line President Chris A. Wood themselves up like an army congratulates valedictorian forty miles deep. Just acres of Barbara Bernal Monrroy, left, and despair and you can’t quite salutatorian Reagan Sharp. figure out where you are in the story of your own life,” Headley said. “Sometimes getting up isn’t an act of defiance. It’s just the only real option left. You know that. You’re the graduating class that spent two years of your college life in a pandemic. I know it’s all you know, but I can assure you, it’s not normal. It is, in fact, bananas. It turns out you are made of tougher stuff than even Nursing graduates light candles in preparation of reciting the “Florence Nightingale Pledge.” you realized. Which is handy to know because the world isn’t done with you yet. You don’t know what sort of sidewinder might yet be headed your way. And there’s no knowing in advance what will turn out to be a glancing blow and what will completely knock the wind of you. “Maybe in the future when things go black and bleak and you don’t even have the strength to talk to yourself, hear me. Speaking to you. Across time and space. Whispering into your very heart. ‘Get up.’”

Sora Sekiguchi and his mother are all smiles after the Commencement Ceremony. Julianna Singleton joins her boyfriend, Jake Bice ’21, as an official Davis & Elkins College alumna.

Graduates earning degrees in Education & Sport Science, Natural Sciences and Nursing are greeted by faculty and staff as they exit the morning Commencement ceremony in Myles Center for the Arts.