2 minute read
GRADUATION
MTSU produced more than 5,000 “ready to work” graduates in 2022.
At the first of two spring Commencement ceremonies, Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis told the newly minted graduates that “nothing should hold back the size and shape of your dreams. It is our talent for imagination and creativity that make us humans.”
In the second ceremony, speaker Christine Karbowiak, vice chair of MTSU’s Board of Trustees and a retired top Bridgestone Americas executive, praised the graduates’ ability to rise to unprecedented challenges and still focus on life-changing opportunities.
In all, 2,474 graduates received degrees in the spring.
More than 850 members of MTSU’s Class of 2022 celebrated their degrees in August. And at the end of the fall semester, another 1,698 graduates accepted their degrees.
Fall Commencement speaker Ronald Roberts, a two-time MTSU alumnus and managing partner for the global marketing agency Finn Partners, said graduates can learn from and use all their experiences as they venture into their lives’ next phase.
He told the graduates to keep their ABCs in mind, saying A is “a foundation of a lot of powerful things—a dream, a vision, a victory, a loss, a family, a friend, and for each of you, a degree.”
B can stand for “because,” he said, since it’s “the reason or cause” for their actions. And C brings the “crazy.”
“Part of Webster’s defines ‘crazy’ as ‘very enthusiastic or eager; with great energy, intensity,’ ” explained Roberts, who has served MTSU in roles ranging from handling University public relations and teaching to leading the MTSU Alumni Association to the current presidency of the MTSU Foundation. “In many instances, embedded in your ‘crazy’ is ‘courage,’ ‘confidence,’ ‘charisma,’ and ‘caring.’ ”
Fellow Commencement speaker Doug Kreulen, president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, encouraged graduates to keep chasing their dreams while acknowledging the reality of life off campus.
“You are selling your talent, knowledge, skills, and experience to your future employer,” he said. “Don’t ever quit. Don’t ever give up on yourself. And don’t be afraid to fail.”
The total number of MTSU degrees earned since its 1911 founding is more than 178,200.
