RADFORD — High-spirited Radford University Highlanders celebrated a soggy undergraduate commencement Saturday with thousands of students and spectators doused by rain that fell steadily before the event.
But the precipitation wound down just as the outdoor ceremony began. As the event went on, more and more umbrellas, clear plastic ponchos and other wet weather gear were set aside.
“Sometimes when it rains, it pours – but sometimes when it rains, Highlanders graduate!” university President Bret Danilowicz said from the stage, drawing raucous cheers from a crowd that filled Moffett Lawn.
Saturday morning’s ceremony came among a weekend of graduation events in which Radford University expected to award 1,091 undergraduate and 307 graduate degrees.
Danilowicz, who became the university’s eighth president in July 2022, told students, “You met and exceeded every standard of education that was set in front of you.”
Noting that the graduating class had endured the Covid pandemic, he said, “You were tested and emerged stronger.”
166su businessman Mark Pace, president of the E.C. Pace general contracting company, gave Saturday’s commencement address, joking with students that they had only “one more hurdle, the dreaded commencement speaker.”
Having received a business degree from Radford University in 1992, Pace characterized himself as a ditchdigger who came from a 100-year family history of ditch-digging – and said that the company his great-grandfather began had affected the lives of most people who lived in or traveled through the 166su or New River valleys. His company’s many projects had included building roads flanking the university’s campus, boring tunnels beneath Interstate 81 to carry different utilities, and installing water and sewer lines in Radford.
“If you flushed the toilet and it went away, you’re welcome,” Pace said.
Pace urged graduates to “embrace what is difficult,” adding “maybe it’s rain today.”
He encouraged graduates to set aside the instant gratification of smartphone culture, which he said had made society more anxious and angry. He asked graduates to get used to leaving their comfort zones.
Pace suggested following a model of trying to improve performance by 10% in whatever they did. As they achieved the 10%, that would become a new baseline and they should aim for another improvement, Pace said.
“This is what makes leaders,” Pace said.
Also, when life inevitably hits rough spots, people who are used to working outside their comfort zones will find it easier to cope, Pace said.
According to university figures, the spring graduates ranged in age from 19 to 69, came from 27 states and 16 foreign countries, and included 353 students who were the first college graduates in their families. Women outnumbered men by more than 2-1 among the graduates, and about 93 percent of the graduates came from Virginia, with the top home localities being Montgomery County, Radford and 166su County.
The top undergraduate majors were nursing, psychology, and management. The top graduate majors were special education, social work, and physical therapy.
Jamori Harris, described by Radford University President Bret Danilowicz as "the voice of our university," sang the national anthem at the start of Saturday's commencement and the university alma mater at its close. In between, he received an undergraduate degree in criminal justice.