Rain showers pushed commencement indoors for the Gustavus Adolphus College Class of 2018 but couldn’t dampen the celebration for the 520 graduates and their family, friends, and guests as the College closed its 156th academic year on Saturday, June 2.
After a morning featuring two baccalaureate services in Christ Chapel and a commencement buffet hosted by the award-winning Gustavus Dining Service, graduates donned their robes and lined up for the processional while their families and friends gathered in the Lund Center Arena. The Gustavus Wind Orchestra welcomed guests to the ceremony and played Pomp and Circumstance. The graduates marched in, taking the last steps of a journey that began four years ago, striding through a double file of faculty members who cheered them on.
With honor cords and decorated caps, the Class of 2018 took their seats and were greeted by President Rebecca M. Bergman and Rev. Dr. Dan Poffenberger ’82, chair of the Gustavus Board of Trustees. Megan Johnson, a graduating English and history major who will spend next year teaching in Vietnam as a Fulbright Scholar, gave the commencement address. She recounted the group’s four years on the hill, weaving stories from first-year orientation into a narrative that focused on growth and resilience with a dose of good-natured humor.
After the graduates crossed the stage and received diplomas from professors in their major area of study, President Bergman addressed the class, who began as first-year students at the same time as she assumed the presidency.
“Jump in. Don’t wait on the sidelines for someone else to take action,” President Bergman told the Class of 2018. “Go with confidence. Go with poise and professionalism. Go with pride. Go with passion and compassion to love and to serve. You are Gusties now and forevermore.”
As is tradition at Gustavus, commencement also celebrated the dedication of the Gustavus faculty as history professor Greg Kaster was named the winner of the 2018 Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching, an honor that was presented by retiring English professor Florence Amamoto.
And as the ceremony ended — as the graduates hugged their parents and shook hands with their professors, as they high-fived their roommates and showed diplomas to their proud families — the sun finally broke the clouds and shined on the Gustavus campus for one last picture-perfect day on the hill.
The 2018 commencement ceremony can be watched online. Photos of the day are available on the Gustavus Flickr page.
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