We celebrated 1,270 graduates: 216 August 2019 graduates, 320 December 2019 graduates, and 734 May candidates for graduation. Among these were 80 international students from 38 countries.
Thank you to our guest speakers Gov. Ralph Northam; Daymond John, of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” who will speak in November at Shenandoah’s annual business symposium; Virginia U.S. Senator Mark Warner; Harlem Globetrotters Big Easy Lofton and Handles Franklin; and retired American public radio talk show host Diane Rehm, who holds a weekly podcast called “On My Mind” and whose show “The Diane Rehm Show” was distributed by NPR.
Gov. Northam acknowledged that although the world has changed, graduates can still control how they respond to these changes.
“While these are tough times, these challenges also present opportunities,” Northam said. “When our old ways of doing things break down, we have to replace them, and that means we have a chance to rebuild in a different way and make things better.”
And thank you to Screech, the mascot of the 2019 World Series champion Washington Nationals, for his congratulatory shout-out video to Shenandoah graduates.
This year, President Fitzsimmons presented the Class of 2020 with a recently purchased bright star from the constellation Taurus. The newly acquired star will be named “Shenandoah University Class of 2020,” and university officials are hopeful this will become a tradition for each graduating class.
Congratulations to the Class of 2020!