Rockhurst University Hosts First In-Person Commencement Since Pandemic
Capping an academic year unlike any other, Rockhurst University graduates were able to walk across the stage in person to receive their degrees in a commencement ceremony Friday afternoon at Children’s Mercy Park.
Last year’s ceremony was held virtually because of the pandemic, and as the masks and spaces between families at the ceremony could attest, concerns about COVID-19 haven’t disappeared completely. But the fact that there was an in-person ceremony at all is a testament to where these graduates have been and how far they’ve come.
“I believe it is fair to say that navigating and successfully completing the last year of a degree program in the midst of a worldwide pandemic has brought out the best in each and every one of our graduates,” said Doug Dunham, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president of academic affairs.
Emma Martinez, the philosophy and biology major who delivered remarks on behalf of undergraduate students, touched on the sense of uniqueness that comes from a college experience marked by the disruption of the pandemic.
“My college experience has broken my heart and sewn it back up again in ways I never imagined,” she said. “Persevering through this chaotic time has shown us that vulnerability is strength, and that often times the most glaring of cracks allows the greatest light to illuminate what has always been present. The very fact that we are here today sharing in celebration is a true testament to our community’s resiliency, to our faithfulness to each other, and to our hope for the future.”
It is taht community and relationships — with faculty, with staff and with fellow students — that Brandon Hernandez, who earned a Master of Science in communication sciences and disorders, said in his address representing graduate students will be the thing he takes away from his six years at Rockhurst as an undergraduate and graduate student.
“What matters most to me is that even when I moved four hours away from my family, even when my high school friends couldn’t match up their schedules, and even though I’ve made a million mistakes, I felt like there was always someone I would be happy to see the next day here at this school,” he said.
In addition to the conferring of degrees, the ceremony also included the recognition of the Senior Gold Medal winners, awarded to students with the highest cumulative grade-point averages over their college careers. The awardees were Peter Baker, Mason Basler, Tessa Anne Buchheit, Paige Carroll, Kiri Evans and Adam Seal.
