University of Richmond hosts graduation this weekend

Graduation weekend – a three-day celebration marking the close of 727 undergraduate careers – will commence Friday evening with the senior celebration on the forum from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

"[Senior celebration] is for everybody just to come together and have a good time before all of the formalities of the receptions,” said Alison Keller, director of student activities. “That’s kind of the informal, casual, fun, kickoff of the weekend.”

Saturday’s programming consists of academic receptions hosted by each of the schools, followed by the candlelight ceremony from 10-10:30 p.m., in which graduates-to-be gather around Westhampton Lake to reflect on their time at Richmond, Keller said.

Before University President Ed Ayers delivers the main commencement speech to the class of 2015 at 2 p.m. Sunday, graduates and their families are invited to an interfaith service in the Robins Center known as baccaulaureate.

Jacquelyn Fetrow, provost and vice president of academic affairs, wrote in an email that the Honorary Degree Committee screened and reviewed nominations for Commencement speakers based on which candidates they thought represented the best communal values. 

“As this will be President Ayers’ last commencement as president, his name was nominated by multiple persons to me,” Fetrow wrote. “I passed the nominations to the Honorary Degree Committee, who unanimously agreed that he would be the ideal speaker this year, as an honor to him and to recognize his significant service to our community.”

Graduates Julia Opong, Emmy Morse and Chase Brightwell will serve as student speakers for candlelight, baccaulaureate and commencement, respectively.

Brightwell submitted a speech on the suggestion of several friends, and hoped to bring a message that would be relatable to his fellow graduates.

“I wanted to be able to have the opportunity to write a speech… that was maybe a little more inclusive and sort of taking in some different perspectives and achievements that have (come) from our class,” Brightwell said.

Along with recognizing the completion of degree requirements for Richmond students, the events of graduation weekend represent the culmination of a year of planning and coordination between the academic schools and the events office under the purview of the Office of the Provost.

“Obviously you could look at it and say this might be an overwhelming task,” said Carter Walton, Events and Commencement Coordinator. “But taking the approach of taking a little bit at a time is pretty much the philosophy, so planning happens continuously, [and] the moment commencement ends there will be a review.”

Walton’s office handles everything from hotel block reservations early on in the academic year to the seating chart for the Robins Center, which may continue to change until just before the commencement ceremony, Walton said.

Walton and Provost Jacque Fetrow are both new additions to the university this year. Walton said that being new to the Richmond community made it important for him to develop strong working relationships throughout the process.

“I couldn’t begin requesting information or even finding out what information I needed to know prior to meeting with those staff members or those representatives face-to face,” Walton said. “… The most important thing was [and is] for me to make sure that I understood expectations of the various departmental representatives, just of the overall process.”

WC freshman Sarah Leonhardt applied to serve as lead commencement assistant at the end of fall semester and has been assisting Walton in preparing for commencement and related events.

“It’s a bit of a tricky event because there are so many offices involved,” Leonhardt said. "I’m glad I had the chance to get to know the events office and see (that) perspective on the university, not just as a student, because everybody here has such a genuine compassion for the students and just wants it to go really well for them and their parents.”

In addition to the 727 degrees the University will confer to undergraduates on Sunday, 32 master’s degrees, 26 MBA degrees and 152 juris doctorate degrees will be awarded, according to a university media release.

Contact reporter Jesse Siebentritt at jesse.siebentritt@richmond.edu.