By Sean Olson, University Relations
New UNCG Alumni Christopher Swaim, of Winston Salem, (right) and Steven Swanger, of Arden, (left) celebrate before receiving their Baccalaureate Degrees. Swaim got a Bachelor of Arts and Swanger got a Bachelor of Fine Arts during commencement at Greensboro Coliseum.
“Neither sleet nor rain nor hail will stop the cause of conferring degrees,” UNCG Chancellor Patricia Sullivan said to loud applause at December commencement.
Approximately 1,387 students were honored at the ceremony, originally scheduled for 10 a.m. but postponed until 1 p.m. due to the freezing precipitation throughout the Triad. Among the graduates were 931 baccalaureate degrees, 394 master’s degrees, 56 doctorate degrees and six specialist in education degrees, according to Sullivan. Also among them were some 63 students from countries throughout the world.
That was certainly something valued by Elena Karpova, now Dr. Elena Karpova, speaker for the December class. Karpova is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, and received her doctorate in Textile Products Design and Marketing. Karpova grew up in Siberia during the Soviet era.
“I never thought I would come to the United States, let alone study here,” she told the class. “But the world has become smaller and smaller. This semester, 500 students from 90 countries think of UNCG as their home.”
Just as Karpova spoke to the class about what she learned from her experience at UNCG, commencement speaker Dr. K. Porter Aichele talked about what she has learned from her students.
“Today, I will tell you what I learned from you,” said Aichele, a faculty member in the Department of Art and recipient of the 2005 Alumni Teaching Excellence Award. “That’s my title, ‘Turning the Tables.’
“I have learned that the body can be a site of personal creative expression in ways that I had never previously considered,” she told the crowd.
UNCG Associate Professor K. Porter Aichele, addresses new UNCG alumni at the Greensboro Coliseum during Thursday's Commencement as Chancellor Patricia Sullivan looks on.
Some students suggested she color her hair in a “particularly vivid shade of red.” Another suggested a tattoo, which Aichele said she wouldn’t consider in her “sixth decade,” but perhaps the seventh.
She said she also learned of students’ generosity through the rubber wrist bands that supported various causes, such as searching for a cure for cancer.
“I encourage you to continue that kind of support,” she told the black-clad crowd. “Keep in mind, some of you will be known for how much money you will make. Hopefully, many of you will be. But, ultimately, you will be remembered for how much of that you give away.”
Aichele recalled how, when she failed to pronounce the names of Chinese artists correctly, one student offered to tutor her in Mandarin. Others, she jested, taught her what malleable grammatical use the word “like” had among young students. Still others taught her the difference between instant messaging and text-messaging. Perhaps, she noted lightly, one of the graduates will write the first great American e-novel in text-messaging format.
“Or one of you, as likely a woman as a man, will be the person who fixes our Social Security system,” she said. “Let me make a small personal request. Leave my Social Security benefits alone. I’ll need them for my tattoo.”
In addition to Aichele, Karpova and Sullivan, other commencement participants included Provost Edward Uprichard; Dr. Gary Rosenkrantz, chair of the Faculty Senate; Thomas W. Ross, chair of the UNCG Board of Trustees; Gladys Ashe Robinson representing the UNC Board of Governors; Ann Fitzmaurice-Russ, president of the UNCG Alumni Association; Dr. James Petersen, dean of the Graduate School; and Dr. Elena Karpova, who will be the speaker for the December graduating class.
The University Bell was rung by the class speaker and Doris McPhail Hall, alumna of the Class of 1955. Ringing the bell at commencement is a UNCG tradition, a nod to the bell’s first use on Oct. 5, 1892, when it tolled the beginning of the first day of class at the university.
