Strength, diversity and perseverance highlight Centre Class of 2022

One of the most diverse and talented classes in Centre College history graduated Sunday, May 22, in the College’s 199th Commencement ceremony at the Norton Center for the Arts’ Newlin Hall.

The graduating class represents 24 states and seven foreign countries, with 33 percent coming from underrepresented populations and one in five identifying as first-generation college students. It is with this lens that Centre President Milton C. Moreland addressed the class—one that persevered through a world pandemic and remote learning.

“Class of 2022, four years ago we welcomed you into this strong community and congratulated you on the incredible accomplishment of becoming a student at Centre College. Since you arrived on campus, you rose to the occasion,” Moreland said. “You flourished and prospered as students at Centre, accomplishing so much in the face of significant forces that pushed against you.”

The Class of 2022 is one of the most impressive in the College’s history, with 293 of its members crossing the Commencement stage on Sunday. Among them, 138 students graduated with honors: 53 Cum Laude, 61 Magna Cum Laude and 17 Summa Cum Laude. Thirty-eight graduates were also inducted into Centre’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest honor society for the liberal arts and sciences.

Veronica Ann Valente and Matthew Brackin Rollo were recognized as this year’s valedictorians in a tie for the award. Valente received the Gavin Easton Wiseman Prize and Rollo received the George Winston Welsh Prize.

Gabrielle Diane Romines and Carter Michael Smith were honored with the Max P. Cavnes Prize, awarded to the best-loved and most-respected seniors in the class.

During Saturday’s Baccalaureate service, speaker Robertson Nash ’83, deputy director of the Tennessee Department of Health, invited graduates to see the power of community, as well as the community that helped them thrive at Centre. Nash’s career working with those experiencing homelessness in Nashville and with the largest comprehensive care clinic for HIV patients in the southeast shaped his address on service.

“Water—this water, out of which your own waveness arises—has been fundamentally enriched by the gifts that you have each brought here and freely shared,” Nash said. “By your joys, by your sorrows, and by your growth. The waters here are so deep, so rich and so beautiful, and they will sustain you no matter where your life journey takes you. Go forth from this place with confidence, humility, and optimism.”

At the Commencement ceremony on Sunday, Student Government President Sarah Ali gave the senior class response, emphasizing the grit and growth the Class of 2022 displayed throughout their college career, in spite of challenges.

“I’d like to remind you all of our class motto that we voted on as first years: ‘Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently,’” she said. “So, don’t shy away from tomorrow’s failures. Remember the first-year version of yourself that saw the opportunity in failure.

“You continued to battle through each and every obstacle that was thrown your way these past four years. You didn’t deflect or shield yourself from those challenges. You faced them head on, with renewed intelligence and integrity.”

Harnessing that sense of resilience, the Class of 2022 will now move forward to pursue lives of purpose and meaningful careers, joining the 98 percent of Centre alumni who attend graduate school or are employed within a year of graduation.

“At Centre you learned to learn. Your focus here is not just on learning to work, that is: building great skills for the many varied careers that you will have in the coming decades. Your real focus has been on working to learn,” Moreland said in his closing remarks. “Working to learn means that you have developed the skills to take on the challenges of life that lie ahead, regardless of what comes your way.

“Having learned to learn, you are problem-solvers, and the best problem-solvers have an adventurous spirit. Please continue to develop your desire to learn and grow.”