President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert delivered the 2018 Commencement address in Alumni Gym during dual ceremonies after bad weather drove the celebration indoors.
PHOTO GALLERY: Commencement 2018
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Members of the Class of 2018 were challenged to care for and love their “shipmates” as they leave Elon and go out into the world, with family, friends, faculty and staff gathered to celebrate Elon University’s 128 Commencement on Saturday, May 19.
Drawing from the lyrics of the song “Blue Boat Home,” President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert said that what matters most in life is how we treat “our ship’s companions, our shipmates” as we go through life.
“Ultimately, your very happiness in life will be determined not by how far or how fast you rose, but by how you helped others to rise,” said Lambert, Elon’s eighth president. “How many times in your life will your encouragement enable the resurrection of the spirit of a fellow human being? How many lives of other people will rise because of what you did and what you said?”
With more than 1,400 graduates, Elon’s class of 2018 is the largest graduating class in the university’s history. Along with the more than 2,000 people inside Alumni Gym for each commencement ceremony, thousands more watched a broadcast of the ceremony from locations around campus. Others tuned in to a broadcast streamed online.
Lambert’s address followed the conclusion of his service as president at the end of February. In her introduction of Lambert, Elon President Connie Ledoux Book, participating in her first undergraduate commencement as president, noted that Lambert had first envisioned and then guided Elon to become a national leader in engaged learning with the highest markers of academic quality, including a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
“Leo, you dedicated much of your professional life to the development of a great university and to the personal successes of thousands of individuals,” Book said. “I am one of those individuals, a faculty member who was encouraged by you to think bigger, reach farther, and dedicate my efforts to the common good.”
In his remarks, Lambert noted that he loves Commencement Day, a time when graduates are surrounded by people on Elon’s campus who love them dearly and a time when the “collective love is palpable.”
As a commencement speaker, Lambert said he was faced with the task of answering a question, that though only two words, is a big one — what matters? He thought back to the memorial service for Harrison Durant ’18, who died last year, a time when he heard the lyrics to “Blue Boat Home,” and said they offer guidance going forward.
“I think what matters most, kindred pilgrim souls, is how we treat our ship’s companions — our shipmates,” Lambert said. “We are all shipmates. Every human being on the planet is our shipmate. It’s tragic that we spend precious time separating ourselves from our fellow passengers, especially naming who we want to throw off the boat instead of making our first instinct the offer of love and understanding.”
The compassion we can show to each other every day matters most, Lambert said. And as Elon graduates, he noted, the members of the Class of 2018 have the responsibility to help others “gain access to rights and privileges, especially education and dignity.”
Four years ago, as president, Lambert welcomed each member of the Class of 2018 during New Student Convocation Under the Oaks, and on Saturday, he reminded them of the advice he offered then, noting that they might one day recount that experience to their own grandchildren.
“When you join the grandparent club, I hope you will tell your grandchildren that on your first day of college, an old man told you, ‘Time is short, and given the abundant banquet ahead, don’t make a bologna sandwich,’” Lambert said to applause. “And on your last day of college, that same old man told you, “Time is short and love your shipmates, because they matter most.”
After preparations throughout the week to hold a single Commencement ceremony outdoors, heavy rain moved into the Elon area, drenching the thousands of empty chairs and stage set up on Scott Plaza for the event. But inside Alumni Gym, the thousands of new Elon graduates walked across the stage following Lambert’s address, shook President Book’s hand and were handed their diplomas. The rain didn’t dampen their spirits or the celebration of those gathered to cheer them on..
After processing into Alumni Gym, the graduates heard from Kerrii Brown Anderson ’79, chair of Elon’s Board of Trustees, who encouraged the Class of 2018 to become dedicated alumni. As alumni, they can be a partner to Elon, be an advocate for the university and invest in its future, Anderson said. “We can’t wait to see what you accomplish, and remember that the Elon family will always be there to support you,” Anderson said.
Senior Class President Bob Minton shared with his classmates that he’s heard often after telling people he is preparing to graduate that time in college goes by in a “blink of an eye.” Looking back on four years of experiences, it’s hard to describe the time between arriving at Elon and graduating as “gone in a blink of an eye,” Minton said.
“It’ll be easy to look back at these four years and say that college was a blur, a blip, a blink of an eye, undermining the fact that every move we make and every action we take for the rest of our lives was influenced by this blink,” Minton said. “Don’t let it be that. Make it more than that.”
Before each ceremony when graduates were gathered in Jordan Gym, Minton announced that the senior class had raised $14,313 for Elon, with close to 500 donors, and presented a symbolic check to President Book. The time in Jordan Gym also offered the opportunities for these new graduates to share final pre-Commencement hugs, show off the decorations on their mortarboards and wish each other well.
Following Lambert’s address and the awarding of diplomas, President Book delivered her charge to the new graduates, noting that the choices they make going forward are their own. Book said she hopes these newest Elon alumni carry the university’s honor code with them as they go forward and make choices that will impact their lives and those around them.
“Remember, we are forever bound together by this honor code — you, me and Elon,” Book said. “In your freedom to choose, choose always the highest levels of integrity, be resilient and unwavering, bring light and clarity, and shine brightly for the common good. That is what Elon expects from you today and what the world needs from you tomorrow.”
In the crowd, friends and family members held up oversized photos of their graduate, rang bells and whistled as the Class of 2018 recessed from Alumni Gym and each picked up their oak sapling — an Elon tradition — outside Koury Athletic Center. The gift of an oak sapling serves as a bookend for Elon graduates, who as first-year students receive an acorn at New Student Convocation. The dual traditions draw from Elon’s name, which means “oak” in Hebrew.