James Madison University - Bluestone Schoolmaam Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

Page 27 text:

Finding each other at the 9 a.m. ceremony, graduates embrace before taking their seats. The Convocation Center housed the previous two commencement ceremonies while construction continued on Bridgeforth Stadium. to these decorated caps, continuing a fun gradu ation tradition Graduation | 23

Page 26 text:

It ' s the End College of Business graduates listen during their individual ceremony. While the College of Arts graduates walked in the rain, those with indoor locations stayed dry. President Linwood H. Rose says farewell with the graduating class Rain clouds loomed on the morning of May 5 as graduates and their families filed into Bridgefor th Stadium. While this was the first undergraduate commencement ceremony held in the expanded stadium, it was also a last: President Linwood H. Rose ' s last time presiding over a commencement at the university. But Rose, who delivered the commencement address, and his preceding speakers portrayed the day not as an end, but as a beginning. JUST BECAUSE YOU ' RE LEAVING JMU, IT DOESN ' T MEAN JMU IS LEAVING YOU. Rheanna Martino, senior and Class of 201 2 president Student Body President Patrick Watral emphasized the meaning of the word commencement. Today is not when our Madison experience ends, but when we begin to make our societies, workplaces, towns and homes better places by putting our JMU values into practice, said Watral. Despite nostalgic reflection of the last four years, student speaker and Class of 2012 President Rheanna Martino echoed this message. Just because you ' re leaving JMU, it doesn ' t mean JMU is leaving you, said Martino. Before the commencement address, Jamie Miller, president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, recognized Rose for his years with the university by presenting him with an honorary alumnus award. In what is now his 37th year at Madison, Dr. Rose has played a critical role in the university remaining true to itself, its students, faculty, family and alumni, said Miller. Dr. Rose has taught us what it means to say, we are ' All Together One. ' We are ' Be the Change. ' We are ' The Madison Experience. ' This was only the fifth time in Alumni Association history that the award was presented, which Miller said was for Rose ' s steadfast leadership as the fifth president of James Madison University. As Rose took the podium, a light sprinkle began and umbrellas popped up throughout the stadium. Through a handful of humorous stories, Rose had a few key messages to impart. He emphasized faith in people, expressing his belief that everyone has a talent, a unique ability, a genius about them. The genius is there, said Rose. The talent is in every person. Help to discover it. Uncover it and nurture it. Enable others and create conditions for discovery. You will find the investments to be gratifying. His other key points were that mistakes are just another way of doing things and that everyone should live a life worth living. Rose expressed faith in the Class of 2012. While you ' ve been at Madison, I ' ve personally witnessed again and again the unselfish, service-oriented, including approach that JMU students make, he said. It is my hope that youi future will continue to be shaped by the disposition, habits and attitudes that you have developed here - that you will carry these virtues forward to make a life worth living. Despite the theme of beginnings that colored the morning, Rose could not avoid mentioning the end of his term. When I accepted this job in 1998, 1 said that it was the best presidency in America. I meant it then, and it remains true today, said Rose. As they say, all good things must come to an end. I cannot imagine anyone I ' d rather go out with than the Class of 2012. WORDS DESIGN j Sarah Lockwood PHOTOS | JMU Photography Services 22 | Features

Page 28 text:

24 | Features