Spring Commencement Honors 1,694 Graduates
May 13, 2008

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Eastern Kentucky University honored 1,694 degree candidates at its annual spring commencement on Saturday, May 10.

A morning ceremony recognized candidates from the Colleges of Arts & Sciences and Business & Technology. The afternoon ceremony honored degree candidates from the Colleges of Education, Health Sciences and Justice & Safety.

The honorees included 1,297 bachelor's degree candidates, 290 master's degree candidates, 99 associate degree candidates and 8 specialist degree candidates.

William Daugherty, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the Board of Directors for NGAS Resources Inc., Lexington, and a member of the EKU Foundation Board of Directors, addressed the morning graduates.

"I see so many people who do not use their experiences to make their life better," said Daugherty, who grew up in Jackson County and graduated from Berea College. "My father had a saying on the farm, 'Don't get kicked by the same mule twice.' Although that sounds like a country saying, truer words were never spoken. Make sure you don't repeat the same mistakes. Use the information of your failures as well as your achievements to make good decisions, and you will have a lot less regrets in life."

Daugherty also urged the graduates to "take advantage of opportunities, gauge risks and don't be afraid to stick your neck out. Keep an open mind and an open heart. Recognize your responsibility to give back and help make your generation the best yet."

The afternoon speaker was Craig Williams, Berea, a 1978 EKU graduate who serves as executive director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group and has received international acclaim for leading a grass-roots effort to ensure the safe disposal of obsolete chemical weapons stored at the Bluegrass Army Depot in Madison County and at similar locations nationwide.

"Now (that) you are about to embark into the real world," Williams said, "you will find a world of exciting opportunities but also a world full of injustice. Please don't shy away from working to make things better just because the odds against succeeding seem too overwhelming.

"My advice to you is don't be afraid to deviate from the structured path; follow your heart and not someone else's contrived plan for your material success," Williams continued. "Don't be afraid to take on injustice. If you are ready to recognize the activist in yourself, you will be indelibly marked as a person willing to go beyond accepting someone else's definition of truth to being a person emotionally connected to your own experience of truth, and that's when your genuine identity rises, like cream to the top. That is when ... you realize you can make a difference."

Daugherty received an honorary doctor of science degree and Williams an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

Speaking as representatives of their graduating classes in the morning and afternoon ceremonies, respectively, were Felicia Hall, a mathematics major from Richmond; and Andrew Bender, a fire and safety engineering tehcnology major from Mertztown, Pa.

Also, Jackie Lazaro, a biology/pre-med major from Huntington, W.Va., was honored during the morning ceremony with the 2008 President's Outstanding Senior Award.