A graduating student takes off at the 2022 Fall Baccalaureate Graduation for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Sixty-one undergraduate and 19 graduate students of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, many of who spent a large part of their educational journey under restrictions from COVID-19, graduated recently in the university’s first-ever separate commencement ceremonies.
“Masking, social distancing and so much hand sanitizer,” Chancellor Harold L. Martin, St. told the undergraduate Class of 2022, whose ceremony was held at the Greensboro Coliseum. “You have succeeded despite the complications of the pandemic.”
Jini Davis Thornton ’91, who has more than 26 years of experience in the accounting profession and entertainment industry, served as keynote speaker for Saturday’s baccalaureate student ceremony. Now a financial advisor to celebrity performers, Thornton shared her own story of resilience on her way to earning her degree and finding her way in her field.
“By overcoming setbacks, I found my true superpower,” she said. “Class of 2022, decide on this December morning that when life knocks you down – and it will – you too, will get up and flip your setbacks into your superpowers. Being flexible helped me discover my true flex.”
The commencement ceremony for the Graduate College was held on Friday, Dec. 9 at the Novant Health Fieldhouse, located at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
Sherine O. Obare, Ph.D., dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, served as keynote speaker for the graduates of the university’s master’s and doctoral programs, including three master’s programs within the CAES.
“I was twice where you sit today: once as an undergrad from a fellow HBCU at West Virginia State University, and once at University of South Carolina, where I got my doctorate degree,” she said.
“Like any journey, the journey towards a graduate degree is filled with hills and valleys. We tend to experience feelings of joy when we’re on the hill. In those days we often spend in a dark valley that often lead the memories of uncertainty and discomfort of the graduate experience…yet you continue to persevere, day in and day out, because you have the dedication.”
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