Nearly 800 Southeast students to gather at fall commencement

With fall graduation on the horizon, graduating seniors of Southeast Missouri State University are gearing up for their last semester's final exams. With graduation comes celebration and a time to reflect on the work students devoted themselves to during their time at Southeast.

Graduating students are given a speech from a commencement speaker before receiving their diploma. With the ceremony comes a commencement speech to celebrate their colossal achievement. This time around, a faculty member will have the opportunity to serve as the commencement speaker.

According to the university's president, Dr. Carlos Vargas, the decision to incorporate members from the institution was made to ensure students had someone within the university to whom they can relate. Vargas said the students and their families will be able to hear from someone who will not only reflect on their college career, but provide insight on what it means to be a part of Southeast.

"I think that it is very meaningful for the students to see a faculty member that they have had in class get the opportunity to give a message from the classroom," Vargas said. "This is more global to what they expect the students to do once they leave."

In the past, the commencement speaker has varied in terms of different occupations. Former graduates had the opportunity to hear from the likes of judge Stephen Limbaugh and Cape Girardeau District Attorney Morley Swingle.

Since 2005, Southeast has invited commencement speakers from a variety of career fields, Board of Regents secretary Diane Sides said.

"Former speakers have been people like Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Gen. James Conway and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2013," Sides said.

While visiting speakers have been beneficial to the student body in the past, Vargas said the change of pace will bring a different form of reflection to the Southeast graduates.

"There are some individuals outside the university who are extremely good at giving speeches," Vargas said. "I think the impact that this has on the students to see someone who is part of the institution give them a last message before they graduate is very meaningful."

The selection process for each commencement speaker begins with the college deans, who select a candidate they feel is suitable for the position. From there, the information is then transferred to the president's office.

"This is a process we put in place that the dean makes a recommendation to the president's office, and the final selection is made here," Vargas said. "I'm excited about it; I have the belief that the faculty will recognize that we are giving them the opportunity that many institutions have not given to them. Right now, we have invited Warren Anderson, and he has accepted."

"I was delighted to be a part of a shift in commencement towards students," Anderson said. "It's a huge day, and students have been putting in the muscle and work, and I'm happy to be a part of it."

While Anderson's set to address the graduating class on Dec. 19, he believes that he doesn't represent Southeast as a whole, but as a small cog within a giant system.

"I think to take a student from a first semester freshman and work with him or her over the years and turn that person into a professional in whatever they're doing, it's a really complicated team that I have a hand in," Anderson said. "The faculty is really varied, and there's a huge variety of views. I can say with confidence that I can speak as a faculty member but not for faculty. That's a very important distinction. It is more than just another day, it's pretty special, as it's the first it's been done since I have ever been here in my 17 years of teaching. That's quite an opportunity and privilege."

Each speaker from the past has brought forth a unique approach in how the audience is addressed. Anderson plans to focus on providing students with a nod in the direction to their time spent at Southeast, as opposed to echoing popular speech topics.

"I think some commencement speeches are directed a bit outward, as in 'grab the highest star,' and I don't want to denigrate that in any way, but I think it's important to tell students that they are walking away from an institution that you spent years at, and you must ask, 'What was that all about?'" Anderson said. "As faculty members, we see hundreds of students move through, and over 18 years I see some are really special and some really stand out. Others may not be within my major and I may not remember them very well, but all have had a connection with me. I think I would like people to reflect on what we've done together."

Vargas, along with Sides, said the inclusion of a university faculty member will serve a better time frame, and be able to include other activities for the students and their families to enjoy.

"We also want to streamline the process a bit. We want to avoid it being too long," Vargas said. "The students are happy to be there, but they are also happy to celebrate with their families, so we don't want to make that difficult."

Anderson's speech will also be accompanied by a video presentation, which will showcase a plethora of photos submitted by graduating students. The video will be broadcast on a giant screen the day of graduation.

"The videographers over in communications are putting together a video," Sides said. "They are asking the folks who are graduating to submit photos, and they're going to play it on the big screen with a music montage."

While graduation is set to honor 773 students at 2 p.m. on Dec. 19 in the Show Me Center, Vargas encourages the class of 2015 to continue learning beyond obtaining a degree. He said the mind is a vessel where an infinite amount of information can be stored and should extend beyond the classroom.

"One of the messages I tend to send in one of my brief remarks is to continue to invest in yourself," Vargas said. "Don't say, 'I learned everything I need to learn and that's it,' that doesn't happen. It is in your best interest to develop in yourself professionally."