Harrison Urges Graduates to Embrace the Challenges Ahead

Happy graduates process from Konover to Lincoln Theater for Sunday's Commencement ceremony.

President Walter Harrison addresses the graduates.

Students move their tassels from right to left, signifying that they have graduated.

New graduates pose for a picture outside Lincoln Theater after Sunday's ceremony.

By Nick Frogameni '12, '14

Approximately 165 graduates celebrated the completion of their degrees Sunday at the 16th annual Fall Commencement ceremony in Lincoln Theater.

The anticipation started in Konover Campus Center, where graduates donned their caps and gowns and lined up for the march to Lincoln Theater, where they were greeted by more than 600 cheering audience members.

University President Walter Harrison presided over the ceremony by reminding graduates of the challenging times in which students are graduating and how the world today reminds him of when he himself was graduating.

“Just when things seem most threatening, life not only goes on, the world will improve. This is not a perfect world, but the world will improve because you graduates, from this university and other universities around the world, will make it better,” Harrison said.

“You live in challenging times. Don’t be discouraged, embrace it, it is a calling. Embrace the challenge of making the world a better place. I believe that is the purpose of a University of Hartford education.”

“You may be leaving the University of Hartford, but I hope the University of Hartford never leaves you,” Harrison concluded.

See the complete text of President Harrison's remarks.

The ceremony ended with a grand round of applause, as the graduates moved their tassels from the right to the left and marched out of Lincoln Theater as official graduates of the University of Hartford. The Alumni Association sponsored a reception following the ceremony at Konover Campus Center, where graduates met and took pictures with their excited families and friends.

The Fall Commencement ceremony is for undergraduate and graduate students who complete their degree requirements in September or January but cannot attend the University’s traditional Commencement ceremony in May. Fall Commencement was introduced in 1996 to provide these students with a formal ceremony that celebrates their academic accomplishments.