A beautiful Wisconsin spring day greeted 1,364 soon-to-be alumni and thousands of their closest family and friends as they all got ready to pack Zorn Arena for UW-Eau Claire’s spring commencement ceremonies.
This biggest party of the year did double duty as the kick off to UWEC’s Centennial year — can you believe graduates have been shaking hands here for 100 years?
Well-wishers from the floor to the rafters watched a slide show looking back over the years, and social posts scrolled by on the #uwecgrad social wall on screens by the stage before the main event began.
To kick things off, Commencement Marshal and Chair of the University Senate Mitch Freymiller greeted the crowd and got them cheering. He introduced a video where graduates graced the screens with personal and heart-felt thank-yous. (Tissue, anyone?)
A hush fell over the room and those familiar notes filled the air. All the grads filed in and found their places to “Pomp and Circumstance” along with ceremony speakers. Props to all the decorated mortar boards!
A newcomer to the processional was UWEC’s new ceremonial mace (what’s a mace, you ask? It’s a decorated pole carried by an official — you can see it in some photos below.). It was hand-crafted in honor of the Centennial Celebration by the Chippewa Valley Woodturners Guild. They used wood from the original Council Oak and Kent State Memorial crabapple trees that stood on campus years ago.
Time for the audience to stand up and stretch — graduates Adam Accola and Sebastian Armendariz led everyone beautifully in our country’s national anthem.
Each speaker at the podium then shared advice and wisdom along with a charge to the graduates to make their degrees mean something out in the big, wide world.
“We know that on this campus amazing transformations happen.” — Provost Patricia Kleine
“You are taking your place in a wonderful community of UWEC alumni. You’ll each leave your own unique mark.” — UW System Board of Regents Vice President John Behling
“Blugolds, no matter where you go in the world, what team you play for or the career you make your own, UWEC will always be home for you.” — Chancellor Jim
Chancellor Jim told several graduates’ stories, including the son of Rachel Khon, who has signed for the deaf and hard of hearing at Blugold graduation for 28 years — she estimates that she’s watched more than 42,000 students cross this stage. She was most excited to watch Chris get his biology degree!
Then came the Charge to the Class by Chuck Szews — an honored UWEC alum and retired CEO of Oshkosh Corporation.
“Give a complete effort in every part of your life with good intentions. Live the dreams that you are graduating with.” — Lifetime Achievement Award winner Chuck Szews, ’78
And finally…
It was time for the big dance — names were called, hoods were draped (that’s doctorate and master’s degrees), hands were shaken, tassels were moved from right to left, and cheers and whistles rang out for each and every grad.
Nicely done, Blugolds. We knew you could do it.
As soon as everyone had made that fabled trek across the stage, UWEC grads John Reuter and Benjamin Thompson Isaac shared from their hearts what being a Blugold has meant to them.
“We will all have roots in this place, this beautiful campus on the banks of the Chippewa River…Blue and gold aren’t just colors … they’re culture.” — John Reuter, ‘16
“Regardless of what life throws at you, you will always have your Blugold degree…the culmination of knowledge and experiences you have earned through blood, sweat and tears…the friends you’ve met along the way, the classes that lit flames within you and far more Topper’s sticks than you’d like to admit.” — Benjamin Thompson Isaac, ‘16
No need to warm up that singing voice (it was plenty toasty in Zorn) as grads, alumni, faculty, staff, and family and friends all got into the act to belt out the UWEC alma mater together, led by Megan Sorenson and Laura Schachner. After that, it was time to breathe some fresh air outside and keep on celebrating!
Photos, high-fives, hugs, and giving of flowers commenced (see what we did there?) as graduates reconnected with some of the people who had helped them reach their goals — professors, loved ones, and classmates.
