The 355 new graduates of Piedmont College wrapped up four days of spring Commencement celebrations with two graduation ceremonies recently at the Johnny Mize Athletic Center in Demorest.
During the morning ceremony, President James F. Mellichamp and Board Chairman Thomas A. “Gus” Arrendale III presented diplomas to 168 undergraduates receiving bachelor’s degrees. The afternoon ceremony saw 187 graduates receiving advanced degrees.
Commencement week began April 26 in the Meetinghouse at the Athens campus with a pinning ceremony for 26 recipients of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Professor of Nursing Dr. Maria Fisk delivered the keynote address. Special awards were presented to Amanda Chandler of Hull—Ruby Bradley Leadership Award; Anna Beth Cheek of Athens—Nelle Arrendale Award; Brooke Denovchik of Dacula—Daedalus Award; Kendel Dove of Martinez and Megan Hayes of Watkinsville—Light the Lamp Award; and Rebecca Gwyn of Loganville—Nightingale Award and the Heart of Nursing Award.
A pinning ceremony for 30 nursing graduates at the Demorest campus was held April 28 at the Swanson Center. Special awards were presented to Brittney Stamey of Cornelia—Ruby Bradley Leadership Award; Carly Preston of Gainesville—Nelle Arrendale Award; Joshua Hollis of Dacula—Daedalus Award; Hannah Kelly of Suwanee and Steven Tiller of Colbert—Light the Lamp; and Melinda McGee of Elberton—Florence Nightingale Award and the Heart of NursingAward.
On Friday, April 29, in the Chapel, the Rev. Robin Meyers, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC Church of Oklahoma City, delivered the Baccalaureate address. Meyers is also Distinguished Professor of Social Justice in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University, where he has taught for 25 years.
Meyers told the audience of soon-to-be graduates, “What I recall most in my life are what I call failures of kindness. Almost every day we get opportunities to be kind. So do me a favor Class of 2016, take them—take them—hurry up and take them. …. Some of you are off to do great things; some of you are going to start looking for a real job; some of you may just be hoping you don’t have to move back in with your parents. But no matter what happens, all of you can be kind. All of you can encourage one another, be patient with one another, remember one another, and stand up for one another. Because if you do this you will vibrate a single strand of what Barbara Brown Taylor calls ‘The Luminous Web,” … and you will change the world. Here is my whole theology: Either all of us matter or none of us matter. And I think I’m going to cast my lot with ‘all of us,’ and I invite you to join me.”
The Baccalaureate service was followed by a dinner on the Quad for graduates and their families and the annual Senior Student-Athlete Award Ceremony at the Swanson Center, sponsored by the Piedmont College P-Club.
At Saturday’s undergraduate ceremony, Bryan Batson, who serves as president of Atlanta Gas Light, Chattanooga Gas, and Florida City Gas, as well as Senior Vice President, Southern Operations, for AGL Resources, delivered the Commencement address. Batson, who lives in Sandy Springs, Georgia, has 29 years of professional experience with AGL Resources.
Batson said one of the most important pieces of advice he could give to new graduates was to “choose responsibility.” “When the company is looking for someone to take on a tough task, step up to the plate, raise your hand and volunteer,” he said. “Don’t make them draft you. Because, if they draft you, you will never see the same credit you would have gotten if you had volunteered.”
“Your life will be shaped by those you have around you,” Batson said. “If you keep good company, you will be sharpened and honed and learn life’s lessons. And if you keep bad company—your mama and daddy have told you this—you will be pulled down and end up like those you surround yourself with. So choose your friends and your employees very wisely.”
Also on Saturday, the Commencement speaker for the 2 p.m. graduate ceremony was Rocio Roberts, general manager of Ethicon Inc. of Cornelia, a Johnson & Johnson Company that manufactures surgical sutures. Roberts joined Johnson & Johnson in 2000 and has held a number of engineering and operations positions, including two years as a general manager for Johnson & Johnson in The Netherlands. She achieved her Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification in process improvement in 2007.
Roberts told the graduates that early in her career she learned the importance of being prepared for any opportunity. She said that on her first week at a new job with General Electric, she had to fill in for her manager to make a presentation about appliance production. She got through the presentation, and afterward the program manager called her into his office. “’What you did was good,’ he said, ‘But always be prepared.’ I spent the next week learning every part—down to the last bolt—that went into each refrigerator, stove, and washing machine,” she said. Roberts said a spirit of adventure also helps in the business world and has taken her around the world from Texas to The Netherlands and even the Dutch-speaking island of Mauritius off the coast of Madagascar. “It is best known as the last home to the dodo bird,” she said.
Those experiences led Roberts to join Johnson & Johnson, and she now manages two plants, one in New Jersey and the other, Ethicon, in Cornelia. “So what do I love about my job? We save lives, and I continue to coach and mentor emerging talent to make leaders of the future. … My key message—always be prepared, keep studying and learning, take risks, don’t give up, one day learn a new language—and have fun.”
