Dear Colleagues:
Our University of Memphis held a particularly inspiring event last week when the graduating class of the University of Memphis Lambuth Campus was recognized at a Baccalaureate Ceremony there. We had seventy-seven spring & summer graduates eligible to participate, nearly twice last year’s number. Almost half graduated with honors. More than fifty actually participated in the event. The Chapel on campus was filled to capacity (660) with standees in the back, and Associate Dean, Dr. Linda Brice recalls, “After talking with one of our security officers last night he said there were also large crowds of people outside the chapel who could not get in so our numbers were probably even higher!!!”
Manager, Student and Academic Services for the Lambuth Campus Lisa A. Warmath found the ceremony especially moving. “I feared that we would lose a bit of the “personal” touch as we’d more than doubled the number of graduates since last year,” she says. “I have to admit, I was wrong. Of the three Baccalaureate Ceremonies that I’ve coordinated here, this group by far was the most energetic and engaged and I feel that I had a better rapport with them than previous groups.”
For many of our students and their families, this serves as a special ceremony for them, since many of their guests cannot get to Memphis for the actual Commencement. Lisa Warmath remembers: “This year, there were many who mentioned this to me as we prepared for the event–they understood that Baccalaureate didn’t replace Commencement, but it was very much appreciated that the opportunity was there for them and their families. This is the first year that I’ve had students share that sentiment with me. It reinforces the decision to hold a Baccalaureate Ceremony here–it’s part of being the “small” campus atmosphere within the larger university.”
Maintaining a long-held tradition from the previous Lambuth academic days was important to preserve. Dr. Dan Lattimore, Dean of the Lambuth Campus, explains: “One old Lambuth tradition that they continued was that as they marched out of the chapel, students (and some of us) marched through the administration building and out the front gates to the school symbolizing their graduating from the school.” This goes back to an old Lambuth University tradition that has been reinstated on a couple of levels. When students enroll for the first time, they “enter” the campus/ university through the Williams gates on Lambuth Boulevard–it’s a symbolic march during New Student Convocation in August. When students graduate, they “exit” the gates for the last time, symbolically leaving campus & heading into the new world as graduates. When they marched out of the Chapel during the recessional, Dr. Lattimore and I accompanied them on their “exit journey.” For Lisa Warmath, “this was probably the highlight of the evening!” I could not agree more.
Go Tigers!