Nearly 350 Shippensburg University students from the three colleges were recognized Saturday at the undergraduate commencement ceremony for earning their bachelor's degrees.

Heiges Field House was filled with hundreds of cheering friends and family members, standing as the graduating students entered and took their seats. Students of each college walked in together, including 157 of the College of Arts and Sciences; 101 from the College of Education and Human Services; and 95 from the John L. Grove College of Business. About 25 students were honored for summa cum laude, or earning a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or higher.

SU President George "Jody" Harpster recognized all of the graduating students for their academic achievements. After Harpster kicked off the processional, SU student Curtis M. Rabe sang the national anthem. The crowd then removed their hands from their hearts and bowed their heads as SU Campus Minister the Rev. Janice Bye gave the invocation.

Harpster introduced SU alumnus Dough Harbach, who is the director of communications for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, as the guest speaker. Harbach, of the Class of 1982, said to the students he hoped to bridge the age gap in his speech — and began quoting lines from “Star Wars.” At one point he held up his cell phone and said the device gave him an idea of how to connect with young adults, and he motioned to Harpster. The SU president then held up large signs of emoticons to illustrate Harbach's main points.

Harbach left the students with a few pieces of advice to take with them on their future careers. Be a joy, not a burden, be organized and prepared and be reliable, he said, but noted there was more to live life by than that.

"Don't take everything so seriously — have some fun," Harbach said, adding that his speech was a testament to the importance of balancing your professional life with seriousness and laughter. "When it stops being fun, it is likely a clue to move on to something else."

After Harpster thanked the Council of Trustees for their attendance and recognized the service of several retiring faculty members, he invited SU's Provost and Executive Vice President Barbara Lyman to present the bachelor's degree candidates. Lyman asked the candidates to stand and move their tassels from one side of their caps to the other, signifying their graduation.

The new SU alumni walked up to their respective deans to receive to their degrees, starting with the College of Business. The deans included John G. Kooti, College of Business; James R. Johnson, College of Education and Human Services; and James H. Mike, College of Arts and Sciences. Harpster, who shook the hand of every graduating student, closed with a few remarks. Rabe took the stage once more to lead the audience in singing SU's Alma Mater and Bye closed with the benediction.

Share