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Members of the class of 2008 move their tassels to ceremonially mark their graduation from Mars Hill College. Photos courtesy of Mars Hill College

MARS HILL — Spring commencement exercises were held at Mars Hill College last Saturday in Meares Stadium.

Dr. Dan Lunsford, college president, handed out 140 degrees to the class of 2008 in front of an audience of family and friends, as well as Mars Hill faculty and staff.

Commencement addresses were given by graduating seniors Julian Rashaun Cuthbertson of Charlotte, who was chosen by the Student Government Association as Student of the Year; Ryan Carl Hubbard of Kingsport, Tenn., who served as the president of the Student Government for 2007-08; and Judy Cheryl Rice Rhodes of Asheville, a graduate in the Adult ACCESS (Accelerated Credit/Continuing Education/Summer School) program.

The commencement prayer was given by Elizabeth Anne Hardin of Palm Harbor, Fla., who has served as president of The Refuge, a student ministry. Hardin and each of the student speakers graduated with honors.

Of the 140 graduates, 102 were traditional students; 38 were continuing education/adult students; 15 were minority students; and 44 were from out-of-state. The top three majors among graduating seniors were business administration, elementary education and physical education.

One student, Michael Costello, graduated with honors after having completed a tour of duty in Iraq. His degree is in Spanish, with a minor in criminal justice.

Cuthbertson, a business administration major, told the graduates it was time for them to make their “third name.” He said the first two names were given to them at birth. College graduation marks the end of a time of preparation, during which graduates receive the knowledge and the skills to “make that third name that will make our family and friends proud.”

Judy Cheryl Rice Rhodes graduated with a degree in elementary education as a continuing-education student through MHC’s program.

The completion of a degree is something for which the graduates have waited years, or even decades, to accomplish, she said.

At graduation, she continued, the graduates owed a debt of gratitude to all the people who had inspired them in obtaining their education. The people graduates could thank for this inspiration included family friends, teachers, “and for some of us, our children,” she said.

The class of 2008, led by college marshal Kyle Toman, walks the faculty gauntlet at the conclusion of commencement exercises.

ACCESS students tend to be uncompromising in their college work ethic, she said, leaving traditional students to often wonder aloud why they feel the need to work so hard. “The reason we are so dedicated is because our education is something we truly value as a gift that only we can give to ourselves,” she said
Hubbard, a biology major, is also a certified nurse’s assistant. He said he had learned much from his years at Mars Hill. But he had also gained wisdom from an elderly man for whom he cares as a CNA. “There are two main lessons I’m taking away,” Hubbard said. “First, it isn’t that hard. Life, school, work, none of it is as difficult as we make it. Secondly, whatever you do, big or small, do it with care and do it with purpose.”

In thinking about what to say at graduation, Hubbard said he could think of nothing more appropriate than the short prayer his friend utters every day before lunch, “Lord, grant us the serenity to accept those things we cannot change, the courage to change those things we can change, and the wisdom to recognize the difference.”

The ceremony was the first graduation in the newly refurbished Meares stadium. The stadium was formally presented as the Jud and Jo Ellen Ammons Family Athletic Center at a home football game in October. Improvements to the stadium include a new artificial turf field; upgraded home seating; new permanent visitors’ seating; new fencing and the W. Scott Merrill Press Box.

Graduation on Saturday morning followed Friday afternoon’s baccalaureate service in Moore Auditorium, where graduates were challenged to a life of service by Dr. Loyd Allen, Professor of Church History and Spiritual Formation at the McAfee School of Theology.

Knowledge, though important, is not enough for a successful life, Allen told the graduates. “You have the knowledge, do you have the wisdom?” he asked.

In drawing this contrast, he implored the graduates to measure their worth apart from their possessions. He also urged them to consider their hands, and to keep those hands ever open in the task of giving to others. He told the seniors that the Christian secret to a successful life is found in the words of Christ as recorded in Acts, when He said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Service then renders one’s own life richer, he said. “The good life is an extravagant life ... not in what it accumulates for itself, but in what it gives to others."