Class of 2009 bids farewell to Presbyterian College at commencement exercises on May 9

May 9, 2009

More than 250 members of Presbyterian College’s Class of 2009 started a new chapter in their lives Saturday following the 126th commencement on the West Plaza.

Seniors drew inspiration towards that new adventure from several sources, including commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient Lindsey Graham, Outstanding Senior Nick Roosevelt of Clinton and PC Professor of the Year Dr. Rick Heiser.

Graham, the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina, was presented with an honorary doctorate of Public Service. Speaking to graduates, he told them he has hope and faith in their ability to face a challenging and uncertain future.

“If you take the values of Presbyterian College with you as you leave, you can change the world,” he said. “Just don’t let the world change those values.”

As the first member of his family to go to college, Graham said he was afraid at first that he would fail. But as he faced his own personal challenges, including the loss of both parents before he completed law school, he said he learned to value loved ones over his own set of accomplishments.

“Never lose sight of the ones who love you most,” he said. “… This degree will serve you well and it will mean lot to the people who you come into contact with. So, do it justice. But remember those people who help you along the way and remember to walk with God. Your ace-in-the-hole is the people who love you.”

Roosevelt, the son of Oliver and Carol Roosevelt of Clinton, told classmates that he read recently that few graduates even remember what commencement speakers say.

“But then I thought how it wouldn’t really be necessary for you to remember what I say today because you already know every bit of what I could say,” he said. “You already know because it has been instilled in you from the time you first stepped on campus for freshmen orientation. And all of these folks who are here sharing this time with you will not have to remember my words either because they will be able to look at you, graduates of Presbyterian College, and see every bit of what that degree means in how you live your life.”

Graduates see the meaning in themselves and each other as they make the world a better place, said Roosevelt, pointing to the many accomplishments of the Class of 2009 – internships at the “Today” show and with Vera Wang, student research, athletic victories, and service.

“It is the unending pursuit to share the best of ourselves with others,” he said. “And in doing so, I think we often find our best getting better. We find ourselves setting a higher bar for the next class and enabling them to reach that new level by our strong example.”

The meaning of a degree from PC continues to grow and have value, he added, as long as alumni continue to be servant leaders. At a recent speaking engagement to scholarship patrons, Roosevelt told them that, “as people of God, you have to be open to the unexpected places where generosity moves in front of you.”

“For surely it has moved in front of us as we celebrate today, and we must be ready to respond to that call to serve with generosity as we go from here,” he said. “We have to continue to share the best of ourselves while we live and while we serve. That’s what the PC experience has taught us, that is what our faculty and staff have prepared us to do: to serve.”

Drawing from the college’s fight song, “On, on PC,” Roosevelt told classmates that PC will go on without them – but was improved because of them.

“On, on PC will go without us walking these sidewalks next year, without us in the classrooms, or as officers in our organizations,” he said. “On, on it will go though we may be serving far away in Africa, or starting grad-school, or getting that first job, or maybe searching for that first job. On, on PC will go as it turns the page on our class and begins a new one this fall. But know that this place is better because we were here, because we are here today. And know that we, too, are better for having been here.”

Heiser, a professor of history at PC, had one piece of advice to impart to the Class of 2009 – pursue excellence. Instead of shooting for “good enough,” he said, graduates should make excellence a daily pursuit.

“Excellence is intentional,” Heiser said. “Look around you at the garden planet on which we live. Look at Monet’s art, Brunelleschi’s dome, Richard Lionheart’s generalship, Aristotle’s logic, Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tiger’s golf score, Nick Roosevelt’s college career, the valedictorian’s GPA, your tidy dorm room that won your mother’s admiration, and any other achievement worthy of note.

“None of these, no, not one, is the result of chance or luck or the attitude ‘good enough.’ It simply is never going to happen to you like this: ‘There I was lying on my bed, and lo, with the angels and archangels rejoicing, excellence descended upon me with warmth and light.’ No, excellence is the result of focused attention, precise purpose, unflagging energy, and a stout determination always to do your best.’

Excellence also is potent, Heiser said, as evidenced by the author of Proverbs who wrote, “Do you see the one who excels? That one will stand before kings.”

“In other words, excellence creates credibility that in turn opens doors for the pursuer of excellence to influence, affect, shape, change, lead,” he said. “Mediocrity affords the sorry person none of the above. Just a little hint, framing your degree will not result in you standing before kings; that privilege and honor comes to those who have the quality of excellence.”

Excellence also is magnanimous and not only for self advancement, Heiser said.

“You see there are, down through history to the present day, the world over, individuals who have achieved greatly, who exercise power and influence, but they are most definitely not excellent,” he said. “… Excellence is more than a level of achievement; it is an ethic. The Lord Christ said it this way, ‘Do to others [the good] you would want them to do to you.’ Yeah, the Golden Rule is nothing other than the call to excellence because excellence has the other person’s good in mind; the pursuit of excellence is an act of love.”

It also is not easy.

“Excellence is admired but not always encouraged or rewarded; indeed our culture may sadly be on the verge of punishing it,” Heiser said. “Excellence is not for the weak-hearted.” Nor is excellence to be pursued anywhere else but on earth, Heiser explained.

“The preacher of Ecclesiastes pondered the meaning of life strictly from the perspective of ‘under the sun,’ and discovered that there was no meaning to life if inquiry was restricted to the terrestrial,” he said. “Excellence, when pursued ‘under the sun,’ can pay tremendous dividends to you and to others, but bear in mind that it will do you no good ‘beyond the sun.’ Neither you nor I can be that excellent; you need another answer for that question.

The college also conferred an honorary Doctorate of Divinity to the Rev. Tammy Brown, senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charleston and one of the founders of The Hands of Christ, a ministry between Westminster and Zion-Olivet Presbyterian churches to provide clothing and school supplies for children who live in poverty in the Charleston area.

Brown accepted the honor on behalf of the many volunteers who have served The Hands of Christ.

“I accept this on behalf of the numerous Presbyterians who dared to cross racial, cultural, socio-economic, and even theological lines to put on the skin of God and to bring the kingdom of God into their midst.”

During the ceremony, president Dr. John Griffith and provost Dr. Robert Holyer presented senior Kathryn Anne Mooneyham of Easley with the Valedictory Award for maintaining the highest grade point average in the senior class.

posted by Stacy Dyer '96