May 11—Indiana State University’s 2024 spring commencement Saturday brought tears of joy and sorrow, cheers of celebration and words of inspiration.
A total of 1,547 Sycamores graduated during three commencement ceremonies at the Hulman Center.
According to the ISU, 69 doctoral degrees, 17 educational specialist degrees and 296 master’s degrees were awarded during the morning graduate ceremony. At noon and 3 p.m., 1,165 students received a bachelor’s degree.
The most moving moment of the afternoon ceremony came when Zina Morgan took the stage and posthumously accepted a diploma on behalf of her daughter, Zinyetta. The degree was conferred by ISU President Deborah Curtis.
Zinyetta Morgan, 24, died April 16 in a traffic accident. As a senior, she would have graduated on Saturday. Students gave Zina Morgan, who held a photo of her daughter, a standing ovation.
The afternoon commencement student speaker, Julio Rosales, is a first-generation college student whose immigrant parents inspired his passion for law, politics and immigration.
He described some of the “unconventional moments in history” that shaped the students, including 9/11, around the time many of them were born. It was a time when the world was ‘moving into a new phase of fear’.
Then, when they went to college, “the pandemic hit us in the face and changed our world again.”
Rosales told graduates to remember that they are role models who can influence others in important ways.
Also, “We are the generation that is courageous and eager to change the future. And with our abundance of identities, we are undoubtedly the generation that will make a difference,” Rosales said.
The alumni speaker was WTHI-TV news anchor Rondrell Moore, who graduated from ISU in 2008.
Moore told graduates that while they will undoubtedly face some failure and disappointment in their lives, they should use those experiences to grow stronger and fuel their path to success.
He talked about the setbacks and disappointments he encountered, which he likened to fertilizer (“it stank”), “but to man it has yielded a harvest of motivation.”
When he graduated from ISU in 2008, he was devastated when he was not chosen to give a speech. He had worked hard on it, practiced it and even become obsessed with it. (He initially jokingly called that student Fawndrell Gloor).
“So imagine my surprise, 16 years later, when that same school asked me to give the commencement speech,” he told the audience.
“Failure, disappointment and sometimes even bitterness don’t have to be the end of your story,” he said.
Moore also talked about his career, which didn’t go straight from college to evening anchor. “It involved years of 12-hour shifts, pay approaching the poverty line, encounters with adversity and intense racism,” he said.
He was told that “this area is ‘not ready’ for a black anchor. Mind you, this was in 2008, not 1908,” Moore said.
But he chose not to listen to the naysayers, he said. “No one could change God’s will for me.” He had the ability to make it happen based on his actions.
In 2016, “Those same voices that said I couldn’t be an anchor in this area because of my race … congratulated me for becoming the first black male evening anchor ever in this television market,” Moore said.
He told graduates that their path to greatness may not be seamless, “but I am confident you will do great things.”
Just before the ceremony, Noah Bolt gathered with family outside the Hulman Center for photos and video. He graduated with a major in sports management and a minor in coaching and exercise science.
Receiving my degree “feels great…I’m moving into the next phase of my life where now I just have to figure out what the next step is,” he said. One day he wants to be an athletics director.
The immediate next step is graduate school and a master’s degree in business administration. He is also participating in the ISU track and field program and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Bolt’s mother cried joyful tears. “I’m so proud. He’s the baby of five. It’s so beautiful to see your kids grow into adults…Being a student-athlete is like having a full-time job while going to school,” she said. .
Saturday also celebrated Kimmie Collins of Terre Haute, who participated in the previous graduation ceremony and earned a master’s degree in communications. She was the student speaker at the graduation ceremony.
“It’s great to graduate. Indiana State has been a part of my life for so long and I love Indiana State and the people so much. It’s a little strange to say goodbye,” she said.
The opening statement was “kind of like my last love letter to ISU,” Collins said. “I will always be a Sycamore and I am so grateful for all the experiences I have had. I am so proud of everyone graduating this weekend.”
She will be part of the social media team for the Scripps National Spelling Bee later this month. “It’s so much fun,” she said.
Other future plans are “in the works,” she said. She plans to stay in Terre Haute.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com. Follow Sue on X at @TribStarSue.
