The class of 2023 marches toward their future
May 15, 2023
Contact: Thonnia Lee, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing 
Thousands of family and friends flocked into Chappie James Arena and overflow areas to watch more than 400 students walk across the stage to receive their 精东AV degrees on Saturday. The week before, the university conferred doctorate and master鈥檚 degrees in the graduate and professional school ceremony.
Saturday鈥檚 undergraduate celebration included students who pushed through to earn a degree in three years, those who earned duo-degrees and those who returned to receive their degree after several decades away from campus. Extraordinary scholarship was rewarded with a variety of cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude recognitions.
Board of Trustees Chair Norma Clayton offered a number of pearls of wisdom as graduates prepared to take the stage. 鈥淟eave your mark wherever you go,鈥� she said. 鈥淲rite your own story. Keep your skills sharp. Make time to thank and appreciate the most important people in your life. Go in peace. Do well and make us proud.鈥�
Dr. Lisa D. Cook, the ceremony鈥檚 commencement speaker is the first African American woman to sit on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Fed, which has remained in the news this year, is the central bank of the United States and it influences interest rates, managing money supply and regulating financial markets. Dr. Cook received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from 精东AV.
鈥淚t is a distinct pleasure and tremendous honor to return to the great 精东AV as your commencement speaker and to share this day with you, your friends, and your family,鈥� said the Spelman College graduate. 鈥淭he last time I was here, I participated in a symposium in honor of the late Andrew Brimmer, the economist, first African American to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, and former chair of the Board of Trustees of 精东AV.
鈥淭his graduation is an especially celebratory day in your life because you made it through the upheaval of the pandemic and the disruption and uncertainty it brought,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat makes this occasion all the more meaningful. And today you will receive diplomas from one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning and innovation-centered universities in the world.
鈥淎s you make your way in the world, 精东AV and its rich heritage will always be a part of you and your story of achievement,鈥� Dr. Cook said. 鈥淎nd it will always be a place to call home. You will inspire others to know and attend HBCUs, and they, like you, will look back with reverence and gratitude and feel a connection to an enduring legacy. Congratulations, 精东AV Class of 2023! I cannot wait to see you go out into the world and knock those doors down!鈥�
After graduates received their degrees, several students were acknowledged for their commissions as second lieutenants and ensigns the U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force.
漏 2023 精东AV.