By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted 12-20-07
UNCG celebrated commencement Thursday, Dec. 20, at the Greensboro Coliseum.
GREENSBORO, NC – Technological advances have made our world smaller and flatter, as flat as a savory crêpe known as a galette, Dr. Roberto Campo announced at December commencement.
“It’s a great big galette out there, everyone, and as scary as it might first look on your plates, you’re ready for it. Now go out there and take a great big bite of it.
“Cette galette est délicieuse, alors bon appétit – This galette is delicious, so enjoy it!”
Campo, who teaches French and is a specialist in Renaissance literature, addressed graduates and their families Thursday at the Greensboro Coliseum. The liberal arts education provided by UNCG prepares graduates to face the “fresh challenges of a changing world,” he said.
The university’s general education courses in math, natural sciences, history, social and behavioral sciences, humanities and fine arts, reasoning and discourse, and writing and speaking create the foundation necessary “not only to your personal success in our globalized economy, but also to the well-being of this nation and our planet as a whole.” The full text of Campo’s speech is available here.
Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan welcomed students and their families to the commencement ceremony. About 960 students were candidates to receive degrees. The 501 graduates who completed degrees in August also were able to participate in the ceremony.
In addition to Sullivan and Campo, participants included Provost David H. Perrin; Kathryn Crowe, chair of the Faculty Senate; Stephen Hassenfelt, chair of the UNCG Board of Trustees; Betsy Ervin ’85, president of the UNCG Alumni Association; Dr. James Petersen, dean of the Graduate School; and master’s degree recipient Natalie Hurst, who spoke on behalf of the December graduating class.
UNCG’s deans; Dr. Terry Nile, faculty marshal and mace bearer; and Meredith Andrews, chief marshal, also took part in the ceremony. The Commencement Brass and Chorus provided music.
Ervin welcomed the graduates to the ranks of UNCG alumni, a group more than 100,000 strong. “From this day forward, you represent this university in everything that you say and everything that you do,” she said. “Consider yourselves ambassadors for the quality of education you received here.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the University Bell was rung by J. Patrick Tutwiler of the December class and Dr. Dorothy Mason, an alumna of the Class of 1957. 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.
