Above: David Green, left, and his mother, Sharon, following graduation ceremonies at ².
David Green had walked across a graduation stage just once before this week – back in high school.
“My mom has never seen me graduate,” he said. “It’s why I came back to school.”
The long wait for the 49-year-old IT specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg to earn his first post-high school degree was all the sweeter once his mother, Sharon, arrived.
“It’s been crazy getting here,” he said. “But after 31 years in the making, it’s special.”
Green was among the nearly 1,300 graduates receiving credentials from ² in four ceremonies May 11 and 12 at the Muse Center on the Rankin Campus. A fifth ceremony is Saturday, May 14 at J.D. Boyd Gymnasium on the Utica Campus. ² awarded 1,610 certificates and degrees, with some students receiving more than one credential.
Dakota Ashby delivers the address at the 9 a.m. ceremony.
Of those graduating, 166 are graduating cum laude with a grade point average of 3.2 to 3.59; 117 are graduating magna cum laude with a grade point average of 3.6 to 3.99, and 16 are graduating summa cum laude with a grade point average of 4.0.
“The power of education is that it drives our vision for a better life,” ² President Dr. Stephen Vacik said in remarks to graduates. “Our vision as an institution is that ² will serve as a catalyst to create a compelling culture – right here in Mississippi.”
Dakota Ashby, of Flowood, a student at the Rankin Campus pursuing a degree in marketing, was the speaker for the 9 a.m. ceremony May 12. He spoke of the diversity of the ² student body in terms of career paths and backgrounds.
“If you look around today at graduation, I guarantee you will see someone who is here for a different reason than you,” Ashby said. “But, that is what is go great here at ².”
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