By: Patty Cox, Anna Prentiss, Jenny Ralph, Mark Vaughn, Matthew McConnell, Layne Herdt, Bill Lax, Jill Elish | Published: | 11:18 pm | SHARE:
Florida State University’s newest graduates were encouraged to take risks and embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and advancement during spring commencement Friday, May 3, at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.
President Richard McCullough presided over both of Friday’s ceremonies in addition to a doctoral hooding ceremony for Ph.D. graduates. Three more ceremonies will be held Saturday.
Over the two days, Florida State will award degrees to 7,813 graduates, including 5,739 bachelor’s degrees, 1,379 master’s/specialist degrees and 273 doctoral degrees. About 6,560 students were expected to participate in the six events.
At the doctoral hooding ceremony Friday morning, McCullough recognized a student who should have crossed the stage with his fellow graduates. Zachary Tolchin, 26, died in March after a motorcycle accident in Tallahassee. The university posthumously awarded his Ph.D. in chemistry.
At Friday afternoon’s ceremony, which celebrated College of Business graduates, speaker James Seneff conveyed a message of resilience, perseverance and the belief that challenges present opportunities for growth.
Seneff is the founder of CNL Financial Group, a private investment management firm based in Orlando. His transformative gift to FSU’s College of Business established the James M. Seneff Scholars Program, an elite honors program for high-achieving students that provides unique educational opportunities, meetings with business leaders and personalized mentorship programs.
“People with character advance in adversity,” said Seneff, who earned his bachelor’s in business from FSU more than 50 years ago. “There is no opportunity without adversity. History teaches us that nations and individuals advance through adversity, not in spite of it.”
He encouraged the graduates to develop three lifelong keys for success: a plan, learning and relationships.
“Lifelong relationships help remind you of who you are. They keep you grounded and provide balance,” he told the graduates. “The quality of your leadership will be built on the quality of your relationships.”
Seneff shared that at age 25, he wrote a 50-year life and business plan.
“Now that you have a degree, it’s time to get a life. In order to get a life, you must get a plan,” he said. “A 50-year written plan will fire up your imagination and pull you into the future. It is magical. It is a superpower.”
At the evening ceremony, U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn from Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, which consists of 16 counties in North Florida, spoke to the graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dunn was a surgeon in Panama City for more than 25 years and for 15 years in the U.S. Army before that. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has responsibility for energy policy, interstate and foreign commerce, telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, health care policy and research, and environmental quality. He also serves on the House Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, the Select Committee on China, and the Artificial Intelligence Task Force.
In comments that drew laughter from the audience, Dunn urged the graduates not to make the world worse.
“Everyone will tell you to aspire to do great things, but don’t use your prodigious talents to mess things up. There are too many smart people doing that already,” he said. “I see that in Congress on a regular basis.”
He encouraged the Class of 2024 to read widely and think critically.
“This is going to become much more important as you are presented with more and more products of artificial intelligence. Think for yourself and think critically,” Dunn said.
He told the graduates that they are inheriting a world of risk, but not to lose heart.
“You are not graduating in peaceful times or safe times. You are inheriting a world full of risks, levels of risk seldom seen in history: economic risks, health risks, risks of terrible wars all over the world,” he said. “But you’re skilled, you’re resourceful. And … having met you, I like your chances.
“Now go make a difference in the world.”
Other ceremonies
FSU’s College of Law will confer 312 degrees on May 5, and the College of Medicine will confer 110 on May 18.
Florida State University Panama City will hold its commencement ceremony at 6:30 p.m. CT May 5, at Tommy Oliver Stadium in Panama City.
Jorge Gonzalez, president and CEO of The St. Joe Co., will deliver the keynote address. Gonzalez, a two-time FSU alumnus, is also a member of the FSU Board of Trustees. FSU Panama City will confer 99 bachelor’s and 55 master’s degrees and will award 29 students with the doctor of nurse anesthesia practice degree for the first time ever.
For more information on FSU’s spring commencement, visit commencement.fsu.edu.
