TWC ARCHES Summer 2014

197 students graduate at 157th
Spring Commencement
Everyone has the power to positively change someone else’s
life said Tennessee Wesleyan College Commencement
Keynote Speaker Bill Kilbride at the college’s 157th Commencement.
Following your passions and using your abilities to positively change
other people’s lives were the key messages shared by Kilbride, the
former president of Mohawk Home and chief sustainability officer
of Mohawk Industries. He also conveyed to the new graduates how
being an alum of Tennessee Wesleyan can impact their lives.
“This college invested in my future,” said Kilbride, now the
president-elect for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
“It wasn’t just about getting me through graduation, it was about
the rest of my life and my gratitude to TWC will be for the rest of
my life.”
TWC’s celebration of its 157th Commencement spanned three days
and three events. The festivities started with a Thursday evening
Nurse Pinning Ceremony, followed by Friday’s Baccalaureate service
and Saturday’s Commencement. With 197 students graduating, this
year’s Commencement celebration was the highlight of the 2013-
2014 academic year.
Receiving their pins at a Thursday evening service at Cokesbury
United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., 65 nursing students
graduating with their Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Tennessee
Wesleyan’s Fort Sanders Nursing Department were cheered on by
proud family members and friends.
“Tennessee Wesleyan has a reputation of being the best and most
experience-based nursing program in the region,” said Shannon
Nelson, the TWC nursing class president who gave the student
address at the ceremony. “Over the past three years of studies and
clinicals, I have realized that being a graduate of TWC and having
that TWC pin carries a lot more weight than I ever imagined.”
“Everyone has the power
to positively change
someone else’s life.”
-Bill Kilbride
Following the Nurse Pinning Ceremony, all 197 new graduates
gathered together in Athens, Tenn., at Friday’s Baccalaureate
service in TWC’s Townsend Auditorium to enjoy fellowship and
words of assurance and affirmation from special guest speakers.
The Reverend Dr. Stella Roberts shared a sermon with the students,
their family and friends, and the TWC faculty and staff who were
in attendance.
Saturday’s 157th Commencement was held in Athens, Tenn., on
the college’s Wesley Commons Lawn and was a celebration of the
academic achievements of its 2014 graduates. In
addition to Bill Kilbride’s keynote address, Sydney
Varajon, a new 2014 Summa Cum Laude TWC
graduate, also gave a student address.
“Tennessee Wesleyan is a place where stories are
interwoven, where lives intersect,” said Varajon.
“Rather than an institution where people have
numbers and not names, Wesleyan is a community
that emphasizes qualitative instead of mere
quantitative existence. Professors and peers alike
encourage us to ask questions, to explore ideas, and
to grow into ourselves.
TWC’s 2014 Spring Commencement Keynote
Speaker Bill Kilbride shared his words of wisdom
and motivation with TWC’s new graduates.
“At Wesleyan we have not been taught what to
think, but how to think, not what to see, but how to
see. There exists a remarkable bond between TWC
faculty, staff, and students. As we leave this campus,
it is my hope that we will go boldly, but gently. We go
into the world now with a rich Wesleyan heritage,
a tradition of light and truth. More importantly, we
have a legacy of love and as heirs of such, we have
the responsibility to share it.” A
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ARCHES | Summer 2014