 � Please stand for the national anthem led by Jaylen Webb, and lift every voice and sing led by Frank Byron. Can you see what so cries brought strides and bright stars? Lift every voice and sing. Please be seated. Chancellor Dixon, with your permission, I declare our 170th Commencement Convocation open. Chancellor Dixon, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, these are our honorees for the hour. Please join me in saluting them. Apostle Edna Lawrence, pastor of Good Works Community Church in Herbert, North Carolina, will now come to deliver the invocation. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for allowing us to be here today, God. We give you the praise, Lord, and we give you the glory, Father. Lord, we thank you for such a rich opportunity for this Commencement, for these wonderful students who have paved the way, who have studied so hard in their families, Lord, and every staff, everyone, God, that makes up this group, Lord. We thank you for this moment. And Lord, we ask God that your Holy Spirit will come into this wonderful occasion, Lord, and do a work. Let us be calm and let us be at peace and let us rejoice and let us reflect about how good you've been to all of us. And Lord, we pray that the same peace and the same joy and the same calmness, Lord, would not only be in this place, Lord, but each one of us, Lord, will just share that sameness, Lord, not just here, but everywhere we go, Lord, and bless this class like none of the class. Bless this class with the breath of assurance that God is with you and he's brought you this far. And he wouldn't let the coronavirus stop you today, but he brought a good day with good weather, with rejoicing hearts, just for you today. So to this class, you are seen as bright flowers in God's eyes this very day. Let us all be blessed in our Father's name, we pray, amen. Distinguished platform guests, faculty, staff, students, families, friends, and graduates, good morning, and welcome to Elizabeth City State University's 172nd Commencement Convocation. Congratulations class of 21. At this time, I am pleased to introduce Trustee Stephanie Johnson, Secretary for Elizabeth City State University Board of Trustees, who will extend the welcome. After Trustee Johnson, we will have greetings from Governor David Powers, Member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, and Mr. Jimmy Chambers, President of the Elizabeth City State University Student Government Association. Good morning. I am Dr. Stephanie Johnson, a proud graduate of Elizabeth City State University and a member of the Elizabeth City State University Board of Trustees. On behalf of Jan King Robinson Chair and the members of the Board of Trustees, it is my great pleasure to bring greetings to today's graduates, their families, and distinguished faculty, our supportive staff, and steadfast alumni. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank our Chancellor, Dr. Kerry Dixon, for successfully leading our MMR model. Dr. Governor Powers, it is also a pleasure to have you on our campus at any time, and we appreciate your continued support of Elizabeth City State University. To our keynote speaker, Anita Brown Graham, I look forward to your words today. Thank you and your family for taking time to visit with us and inspire our future leaders. Graduates, we are here to celebrate you and your accomplishments. The experiences learned during your time at this institution will resonate throughout your life. Elizabeth City State University has provided you with the knowledge and skills that will support your future endeavors. As we celebrate you today, remember those professors who committed their time and talent that allowed you to excel. Thank your family members for their unconditional support and stay connected with the Elizabeth City State University as proud alumni. This is your time you've grown to go, to you've grown, and you want to glow. It is now your time to go forth and prosper to the spring 2021 graduates of Elizabeth City State University. Congratulations and Godspeed. Good morning. Thank you so much, Chancellor Dixon, for inviting me today. We all owe a sincere thanks to Chancellor Kerry Dixon, who is a passionate advocate of this great university. As the leader of this vital institution, Chancellor Dixon has succeeded in helping Elizabeth City State University deliver on its promises to future generations of students. ECSU is very fortunate to have you here at this exciting juncture in this history. Thank you. On behalf of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, Chairman Randy Ramsey and UNC System President Peter Hans, it is my immense pleasure to bring greetings to today's graduates, their families, to Chancellor Dixon and our distinguished keynote speaker, Anita Brown Graham, and to this university's distinguished faculty, staff, and alumni, the Board of Trustees and other members of the platform party. Graduates, congratulations. As the son of a North Carolina public schoolteacher and the husband of a North Carolina public schoolteacher, I've never been able to get away with anything in my life. I have to offer a special congratulations to our education majors here today. Those of you who have chosen to teach others, thank you. And I would also like to say a special thank you to those students who set in commissions in the United States Army. You have chosen a life of service and you have our gratitude and our respect. Graduates, you've reached a great milestone and about to venture out on a new beginning. You came here four years ago, or so, from towns and cities across North Carolina, the nation, yes, the world. You all went through a great exercise in self-examination while receiving a first-class education at an institution with almost 130 years of distinguished history of excellence in higher education and service to the people of our great state. Your Elizabeth City State education has prepared you well for your journey into the future, and I know it will be an exciting journey. Your time here has also been a celebration, a celebration of the rich physical, cultural, and intellectual diversity that the Elizabeth City State offers. The joys of new friends, the rigors of your academic study, and the robust debate of ideas all contributed to your growth as a student and a well-rounded individual. No matter your path, I encourage you to stay connected to this wonderful place. Elizabeth City State guided you and prepared you for success. I want you to always remember that and become an ambassador for your university. I want you to return the favor by giving back to Elizabeth City State with your time, your energy, your enthusiasm, and when you're able, your treasure. Mark Twain once said that the two most important days in your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why. Take your experience here at Elizabeth City State and go find your why. Do well and do good. Make your way and make your mark. Change the world. Have some fun along the way and never ever forget your Viking. Congratulations and thank you very much. Greetings to Chancellor Dixon, platform participants, faculty, staff, alumni, but mostly important. Get it up for the class of 2021. I am Jimmy Chambers Jr., the student body president here at Elizabeth City State University. It's my honor to congratulate you all today. I want to leave with you today that I know that your journey this year was very hard. You faced so many different hardships, but you did so well. I'm sorry, I was a little nervous, but you did so well making a lifetime commitment to make sure that your education is important. So remember, when you go into your next phase of life, continue to keep ECSU at your heart. And always give back. Love y'all. Of 2021, you are in for a treat. At this time, we will be favored with a senior tribute by Jaylen Webb, Niaja Luke, and Frank Bryan. Come on, y'all. I need to hear y'all make some noise. Come on, y'all can get louder than that. Make some noise, y'all. Kind of blessings. Class of 2021 will always be remembered. And as they said in their song, class of 2021, get ready. Get ready. You're about to embark on things you've never seen before. And we're going to be right there with you. So thank you so much for that senior tribute. Thank you. It is my pleasure to introduce our commencement speaker. You will find a detailed bio of our speaker in the program. And I have to say, I was so glad when she answered my call to be here with us today because she is dynamic. Miss Anita Brown Graham leads NC Compact in the School of Government at UNC Chapel Hill. NC Compact is a special initiative that seeks to expand the school's capacity to work with public officials on complex policy issues. She serves as host for the NC Impact Television Program on PBS NC, a public affairs program featuring innovative community collaborations across North Carolina. In 2007, Brown Graham became director of the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University. There she led IEI's efforts to build North Carolina's capacity for economic development and prosperity. In 2013, the White House named her a champion of change for her work at the Institute for Emerging Issues and the Triangle Business Journal named her a 2014 Woman in Business for her policy leadership in the state and a 2017 CEO of the year. The UNC School of Government named her the Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor in 2020. She earned an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Please join me in welcoming our commencement speaker, Miss Anita Brown Graham. All right, mask off, glasses on. I think I'm about ready to get started. Chancellor Dixon, members of the faculty, administrators, students and guests, thank you for having me today. Now I do want to say I think it is really bad manners to ask somebody to speak after that song we just heard. I don't know about y'all but I'm still singing in my head. It is truly an honor to be speaking to the fine graduates of the class of 2021 at Elizabeth City State University. This is one of our state's finest institutions and you should know that I'm a huge and long time fan. For you great graduates out there, y'all, I was tearing up as you were walking in and you're not even my children. But I know, I know you've worked hard to get to where you are today. Some of you have pulled all-nighters, you've made some lifelong friends, leaving behind some people you're not sorry to say goodbye to. You've made connections with your professors who have reshaped your entire way of thinking. You've discovered passions you never knew you had. You volunteered in ways that made this campus, this city, this nation better. You've learned to love coffee on those weeks when it just didn't seem there were enough hours. You thought you'd never get it all done. My friends, yes, you have laughed, you have cried, you have given it all and you are here today. Now please know that I understand you didn't get here by yourself. Gathered here today are your families, your friends, your professors and so many others who contributed to what you have accomplished. So if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'd like to shift the focus to them. To all of you here today in the stands who are here because you cared about, cared for one of these graduates, I want to congratulate you too. This is where you clap for them graduates, yeah. Whether you've known your graduates since the day they were born or you came into their lives more recently, they have reached this milestone in part to you. As a mother whose own younger daughter will be graduating next Saturday, I understand the pride you feel today for them but also pride for yourselves. For every time you held your tongue, your breath, opened your heart and your wallet, congratulations, you've done good. Now I want to confess, I've been struggling a little bit for weeks to think of something worthy to say to you. Something that left you either happy to join me and the regions, legions of others who can't remember a single word of their college commencement speech or the mighty few who somehow decades later seemed to be holding on to all the wisdom didn't really matter to me which one you fell into as long as I kept it short and sweet. But recent weeks in Elizabeth City leave me needing to offer something that respects the context of this moment in which you graduate. Something that offers to you and your families the comfort you deserve. After more minutes searching for the message than I care to admit, I've come up with three words that I hope meet this goal. They are graduates at all costs protect your peace. This may seem like a strange message for this moment in your life. You probably came expecting a message about how you will soar in the days ahead. However, you are grown folk now and I came to give you a grown up message. I came to remind you that the world will wear you down. Craziness on the job can make you want to holler. The stuff of families can make you physically ill. And the realities of the life you will lead can cause you to want to hide your head in the ground. So to become what you were destined to be, to see the things the song said you've never seen, you have to be prepared to protect your peace. Let me start with the very short Modern Parable by Terry McAdoo. It's about a worm, yes, yes, it really is about a worm. You see once upon a time in a great big forest at the bottom of a very tall tree, there crawled along in the dark earth a caterpillar who was brown and squishy and his name was Bumpadoo. The odd thing about Bumpadoo was that he didn't know he was a caterpillar, he thought he was a worm. That is why he crawled at the bottom of the very tall tree, instead of climbing up into the tree and into the branches and out onto the stems into the bright sunlight as he should have. Bumpadoo had not always lived in the dirt. A long time ago he had followed his true nature into the tree and out onto the leaves and as he dined there in the bright sunshine he grew bigger and happier as should happen when you're eating lots of good stuff. But one day a wind came along, rustled through the tree branches and shook the leaves mightily. Bumpadoo thought he was going to fall, he thought he was going to die. And so he scurried off the leaves and over the branches and down the bark of the tree to the safety of the quiet still. In this earth he met other creatures who crawled where he liked to crawl. They identified themselves as worms and since Bumpadoo liked the quietness and stillness of the earth he began to think that he too was a worm. He forgot how beautiful the forest could look when viewed from high in the very tall trees and he forgot there was more to life than crawling around in the dirt like a worm. One dreary rainy day in the quiet muddy earth Bumpadoo suddenly heard something bounce with a little plop. He poked his head out of the ground to see what had happened and came face to face with a big worm that looked a lot like him. Oh my, where am I? exclaimed the stranger. I was munching on my dinner, hanging on as best I could to the slippery wet leaf and a wind came along. It shook me and I fell and here I am but where am I? You are with me, said Bumpadoo. I am a worm called Bumpadoo. The stranger I, Bumpadoo, carefully said, very much alike, that means you are not a worm, that means you are a caterpillar. How can you say I'm not a worm, insisted Bumpadoo. Can't you see that I live and crawl and eat in the soft dirty earth and you certainly are no better than I am. You have no right to claim that you are a caterpillar that will someday become a gorgeous butterfly. You're crazy. The caterpillar stared silently at Bumpadoo for a minute and she turned around and started to head for the tree. Bumpadoo looked high, high up into the forest. Aren't you afraid of falling again when the wind returns? he asked. The caterpillar attached her front feet to the base of the tree. The fall is not what we should fare, she said, staying in the third after the fall. Now that is what should make us tremble with motivation to do what we have to do to become the butterflies we were created to be. Graduates, the first thing you must do to protect your peace is to know your purpose in life. If I asked you today what is your purpose, I wouldn't be asking you what is your purpose this afternoon. I would be asking you why are you here. Without steadfast understanding of your purpose in life, you could end up settling for being an earthworm when you were meant to sail among the trees as a beautiful butterfly. Now you may be thinking to yourself, but Bumpadoo was chilling, he seemed pretty peaceful to me. I agree that he was without stress in the dirt, but let me assure you that peace is not about the absence of stress. Peace is about the presence of purpose. What graduates is your purpose? Now many of you here are from that generational cohort, Gen Z, you know, the latter half of the millennium generation. And I want you to think with me for a moment about the times you have grown up in. Times with war, financial downturn, social unrest in response to daily atrocities, and an unprecedented global pandemic. You've pivoted to zoom university, lived with social distances, marched in the street, and you made it all work. Today we find our country at a turning point, both in domestic terms and global affairs. A turning point as significant as any time since the outbreak of World War II. Your childhood and upbringing have been shaped by these factors, and they, I assure you, have prepared you for your purpose. It is your turn, class of 2021, it is your turn. It is your turn to lead in the sea suites and in the streets. It is your turn to take the lead. The second tip to protecting your peace is you must find your people. Bumpadou missed the moment. He could see that he looked like the caterpillar, but rejected without investigation that they were the same. Now let me be clear, this is a parable, I don't want you to take it literally. Not all people who look like you are your people, and there are people who look nothing like you who will be your best people. You are the most racially diverse generation in our country's history. You are more comfortable with all kinds of differences than your parents' generation and their parents' generation because you have the ability to accept people of all demographics, backgrounds, and choices, and you can connect to thousands of them with the click of a button. You might think that your people is a big number, but I came here to tell you, when you know your people, you will probably be talking about as many fingers as I have. Choose your people wisely. There is a difference between followers and friends and your people. Your people are the ones who encourage you to do and to be more than you can see in yourself. They're also the ones who hold you accountable for failing to live up to your potential. If you don't have someone in your life who will tell you, the fall is not what we should fare, staying in the dirt after the fall, now that should make us tremble, then call me after graduation, I will be your people. Finally, you must stay positive. That doesn't mean from time to time you won't be mad. When the time calls for it, I encourage you to be mad. But instead, I'm asking here for you to stay positive in your belief that you can effectuate change. You are already incredibly, sometimes maddingly, maddingly, and certainly almost disconcertingly optimistic. According to a Pew research study, 49% of you think the United States best years are yet to come. That's more than any other generation poem. Despite rough economic waters, higher levels of student loan debt, and lower levels of wealth than your predecessors, more than 8 in 10 of you say you currently have enough to lead the life you want or expect to in the future. No other age group is this optimistic. Now, I can see some parents and grandparents up there in the stands shaking their head, and I must concede that some of this is simply the optimism and sense of possibility that goes along with being in your parents' pocketbook. My elder daughter claims all the time she's not motivated by money, doesn't need it at all, but she never says no to the stuff that comes from my pocketbook. Seriously, you are positive because you know you will make a difference. More of you than any other generation in our history are looking for jobs and career paths that don't just pay the bills, but also have meaning. You want passion, you want fulfillment, you want to make a difference, and my friends, I have no doubt you will. More of you in more ways than you could know in this moment will change our world. I know some of you don't believe me. You think that duty falls on some other people, not you. There are the people in Washington, the people who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, the people who have already started a non-profit, contributed cancer research, want to go metal by the time they're 17, you know those people who just make things. But let me tell you something though, the funny thing about the people who end up making a difference, none of them knew they were going to do it until it was done. None of them had any idea it was going to happen. They woke up, they worked hard, they did their best, they did what's right, and they changed the world. Graduates, I encourage you to go do things because they are right, because they are necessary. Time will pass more quickly than you can imagine. Before you know it, you will be sitting at a college graduation bursting with pride at a graduate, and you will know that their future is bright. You will know that new opportunities are out there for them because each day you met your challenge of the day. And through it all, graduates, you knew to protect your peace. Congratulations, and I wish you all the best. Thank you, Anita Brown Graham, for such an inspirational message to our class of 2021. Protect your peace and know your purpose. Graduates, always remember that. So Miss Brown Graham, on behalf of Elizabeth City State University, we would like to thank you for those inspirational words and present you with a framed poster of the announcement of your visit to Elizabeth City State University. And I have to say, I am proud to call you Sara, and I am proud that you're my link sister. So thank you so much for joining us. Thank you again. Each year, we have representation from our stakeholders who join us as we congratulate and celebrate our graduates. I would like to acknowledge those who are joining us today, both in person and virtually. Thank you so much to UNC Board of Governor, David Powers, who serves as liaison to Elizabeth City State University. And I have to say, Governor Powers, you have always been our champion, and we thank you for your continued support. Also, at this time, if you are present, please stand. ECSU Board of Trustees, thank you. ECSU Trustee Emeriti, if you are here, please stand. ECSU Foundation Board Members, if you are present, please stand. ECSU National Alumni Association Officers and Directors, please stand. Professors Emeriti, please stand. ECSU Retirees Association, please stand. Representatives from local, state, and national government, please stand. Representatives from branches of the military, please stand where you are. Thank you for your service. And I would like to also acknowledge Miss Brown Graham's daughter and husband are here. Thank you for being here. And also, guest of our Apostle, thank you for being here. And acknowledgement of my senior cabinet, thank you all for all you do. At this time, we will have Governor David Powers come to the podium to present the 2020-2021 Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. Thank you again, Chancellor. As much as we are here today to celebrate you, we are also here to celebrate the people that helped you get here. Their dedication and their contributions both to this university and to your future success. There are a number of faculty members on this campus who exemplify outstanding teaching. Today, I want to recognize one of them. It is my privilege to present this year's Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching to one of your most outstanding faculty members. Established by the Board of Governors in 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching and to reward great teachers across the university, the awards are given annually to a tenured faculty member from each UNC campus. Recipients are nominated by special committees on their home campuses and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Personnel and Tenure. Each winner receives a bronze medallion and a cash award. This year's recipient from Elizabeth City State University is Dr. Dibani Kanyelu. Is that close? Dr. Kanyelu joined Elizabeth City State University as an assistant professor in the fall of 2010. Her research areas include labor and health economics and applied microeconomics. She has been published in multiple outlets and one of her most recent presentations earned a best paper award at her disciplines 2020 conference. She is dedicated to her students which is demonstrated through her work in chairing the Master Faculty Advisor Council and her mentorship with several student clubs and organizations. She was previously departmental teacher of the year at Elizabeth City State in 2016. She was recently promoted to the rank of professor of economics in the department of business accounting and sports management in spring of 2020. Dr. Kanyelu actively serves in various committees at the department and the university and is completing her term as the vice chair of the faculty senate and has served as a member of the vice chancellor's leadership academy. Dr. Kanyelu, we celebrate your outstanding professional achievement and salute your demonstrated commitment to great teaching and inspiring a new generation of leaders. In honoring you, we also acknowledge the more than 14,000 dedicated faculty member who teach our almost 240,000 students throughout the University of North Carolina. Congratulations again. Chancellor Dixon. At this time, it is my pleasure to present to you Miss Anita Brown Graham for the conferment of her honorary degree. Miss Anita Brown Graham, please come forward and join me at the podium. Chancellor Dixon, it is my privilege to report to you that the candidate Miss Anita Brown Graham has qualified in all aspects for the honorary doctorate degree Doctor of Public Service. Miss Anita Brown Graham is the director of NC Impact at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has selfishly supported causes by serving on many boards and organizations including the Research Triangle Foundation, the Smith Reynolds Foundation, North Carolina Housing Coalition, the North Carolina Justice Center, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, East Durham Child Children's Initiative, the Triangle Community Foundation and many others. She has received many accolades including the Triangle Business Journal 2014 Woman of the Year, 2017 CEO of the Year, 2020 Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government. In 2013, she received the White House Champion of Change and Civic Engagement Award. Chancellor Dixon, upon the nomination by Anita Walton, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, vetting by the ECSU Honorary Degree Committee and approval by the ECSU Board of Trustees. It is my pleasure to present to you Miss Anita Brown Graham for the conferment of the honorary degree Doctor of Public Service. By virtue of the authority vested in me by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and the Elizabeth City State University Board of Trustees, I do hereby confer upon Miss Anita Brown Graham the honorary doctorate degree Doctor of Public Service for which you have qualified with all the honors, privileges and responsibilities thereon to appertaining. Congratulations. Congratulations again and yes, you are a Viking. Welcome to the Viking family. Lieutenant Colonel Robert Freeman, please come to the podium to deliver the oath of office to our newest ROTC officers. Good morning Elizabeth City State University family and friends. I am Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Freeman Jr., the Professor of Military Science and Commander of Viking Battalion. Today I have the honor and privilege of reaffirming the oath of office for 2nd Lieutenant Gamir, 2nd Lieutenant Harris and 2nd Lieutenant Howell. 2nd Lieutenant, please join me on stage. These 2nd Lieutenant received their commission yesterday in a separate ceremony in front of their families, friends, peers, university leadership, faculty, staff and ECSU alumni who have supported them on this incredible journey. Thank you again Chancellor Dixon for attending, your kind words of wisdom and encouragement and your unyielding support to Viking Battalion. All military members begin their career by accepting an oath of office. Doctors, lawyers, public officials and our military are some of the few professionals that take such an oath. The oath of office represents an officer's right of passage from cadet to a commissioned officer on behalf of the President of the United States. The oath affirms a commitment to defend the American people and our way of life against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your full name. Do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon the office I am about to enter. So help me God. Please give him a round of applause. And as I told them yesterday in their commissioning ceremony, I had something very special made just for you. It is a challenge coin, ECSU, that I want you to carry with you for the rest of your life and know that the Viking family is always with you. Chancellor Dixon, we now recommend candidates for graduate degree. Chancellor Dixon, it is my privilege to report to you that the candidates here assembled have qualified in all aspects for their degree by successfully completing the curricula offered by the graduate program in school administration, biology, mathematics, biology and education at Elizabeth City State University. With the candidates for the master of school administration, master of science and mathematics, master of science and biology and master of education, please stand and remain standing. Chancellor Dixon, it is with pleasure that I present to you these candidates who have completed all of the requirements for graduation. They have been certified by the registrar and have received an affirmative vote of the faculty to be awarded the master's degrees in school administration, mathematics, biology and education. I now recommend them to you for the conferral of their degree. By virtue of the authority vested in me by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and the Elizabeth City State University Board of Trustees, I do hereby confer upon you the degree for which you have qualified with all honors, privileges and responsibilities thereunto appertaining. We will also present a special medallion to our graduates who have successfully completed their master's degree. With the candidates for the master of school administration, master of science and mathematics, master of science and biology and master of education, please proceed to the stage to receive your degree. Diamond Ayanna Brookins Taylor Griffin Ayesha Latanya Massey Robinson Robin Victoria Walden Manisha Lewis Cole Hope C. Lenea Majette Jacobs Joseph Hedley Congratulations, please be seated. Chancellor Dixon Chancellor Dixon, it is my privilege to report to you that the candidates here assembled have qualified in all respects for their degrees by successfully completing curricula offered by the academic departments at Elizabeth City State University. They have been recommended by their department chairs, approved by the Honors Council where apropos, certified by the registrar and have received an affirmative vote of the faculty to be awarded the degrees, the Bachelor of Science in Education, the Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Social Work. At this time, I am pleased to begin the conferment of undergraduate degrees by presenting the bearer of the man. Chancellor Dixon, it is my pleasure, most distinct indeed, to inform you that the official bearer of the man is Olivia Grace Vaughn. With the bearer of the man, Olivia Grace Vaughn, please come forward for the conferment of your degree. Chancellor Dixon, I am pleased to present the bearer of the man, Olivia Grace Vaughn, who has earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.9633. Bearer of the man, Olivia Grace Vaughn, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and the Elizabeth City State University Board of Trustees, I do hereby confer upon you the degree for which you have qualified with all honors, privileges and responsibilities thereon to appertaining. Trustee Dr. Stephanie Johnson of the ECSU Board of Trustees will now hood you. Congratulations, Olivia. Chancellor Dixon, before we proceed with the conferment of degrees, I am honored to have the opportunity to recognize those seniors who are graduating with highest honors, summa cum laude, having achieved by their diligence a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 to 4.0. With the graduates graduating summa cum laude, please stand and remain standing. Those seniors who are graduating with high honors, magna cum laude, with a grade point average of 3.6 to 3.79, please stand and remain standing. Will those seniors graduating with cum laude honors with a grade point average of 3.25 to 3.59, please stand and remain standing. Please join me in congratulating these students on their accomplishments. You may be seated. Now I wish to recognize seniors who have completed four years in the university's honors program, many of whom were just standing. Will those students who have completed four years in the honors program please stand so that we may congratulate you. Congratulations. You may be seated. I am pleased to acknowledge all of the summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude graduates and graduates of the university's honors program. I commend you for having achieved the excellence required by a highly rigorous curriculum. I encourage you to continue to excel. Thank you so much for your hard work. We recognize you for your excellence. Thank you. Chancellor Dixon, I am now pleased to present candidates for their respective degrees. Chancellor Dixon, on the recommendation of their department chairs certified by the registrar and by affirmative vote of the faculty, it is my pleasure to present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work. Please stand. By virtue of the authority vested in me by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and the Elizabeth City State University Board of Trustees, I do hereby confer upon you the degrees for which you have qualified with all the honors, privileges and responsibilities thereunto appertaining. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work please be seated. Will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please come forward to receive your degrees. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. Will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science degree please stand. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science degree, candidates please come forward to receive your degrees. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree please stand. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree, please come forward to receive your degree. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Social Work degree please stand. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Social Work degree, please come forward to receive your degree. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree, please come forward to receive your degree. To present the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education, will the candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Education please be seated. Congratulations, please be seated. This concludes the conferral of degrees upon the candidates comprising the spring graduating class of 2021. Now, would all of the baccalaureate graduates please stand to please symbolize the attainment of your degree by turning your tassles from the right to the left. Congratulations, please be seated. I have to say is to God be the glory. To God know we're supposed to be, know we're supposed to be quiet, but to God be the glory. 2021 graduates, this is your day. This is your day. You've been through a lot, unprecedented times, but Vikings, we are resilient and we are blessed. And I thank all of you. I'm off script, but I want to just say this because it's in my heart. I thank all of you for coming here today to make this possible for our graduates. There was no way as my provost and my executive cabinet and with our trustees as we talked about this, we knew how important this day is for many families and for our graduates and we wanted to make sure it happened. So I just thank all of you for being patient with us, for being flexible, and most of all for being here to celebrate the great accomplishment of the class of 2021. And we have, we have titled or given the name to this class as the class of resilience, because they've been through a lot and celebrate them as best as you can and as much as you can. So that pause and praise is all right. So spring class of 2021 graduates, I extend sincere congratulations to each of you for achieving this milestone in your lives. At this time, I would also like to recognize our honor marshals as listed in the program booklet honor marshals are the highest ranking students academically from the freshman sophomore and junior classes. Also, at this time, I would also like to recognize and thank ECSU commencement committee. You all made it happen. Thank you so much. And again, I applaud that senior tribute from our three graduates Jaylen Webb, Nyazia Luke and Frank Bryan. You made this day memorable. And we are thankful that you shared your talents with us today. I welcome to the podium, Astasia Robinson, president of the senior class to deliver farewell remarks. Good morning class of 2021. Congratulations on making it to this special day. Staying up to 1159 p.m., balancing schoolwork and still be a move, being able to make it to by confess and homecoming events has prepared you for life after graduation. As a graduate, you are transitioning from a student to a leader. To lead means to God on a way to direct the operations activity or performance of. Today, I would like to talk to you about a popular leadership position, the lion leader. In elementary school, the kids will give their right arm to be the lion leader. Why? Maybe it's because they want to feel accomplished or may just want to be the attention of the teacher. But let me examine the role of a lion leader. The lion leader is basically given the responsibility of leading the people behind them to a particular destination. With that being said, couldn't we conclude that everyone in the lion is a leader? The second person has someone behind them. The third person has someone behind them and the same for the fourth person. The responsibility does not stop there. You also have to be the support for the person in front of you. If they fall, shouldn't you help them up? Please do not pass them or walk over them. The last person is also a leader. They are just as brave as the first person in line because they have their backs turned against the unknown. Some may even say that the last person is the protector of those in front of him. It also takes a lot of patience to be in the back of the line. You may be wondering what all of this has to do with you. So let me just ask, are you in line? And let me just answer, yes you are. Look to the left of you, look to the right of you. In front of you and behind you. Someone is always watching you. A friend, cousin, auntie, uncle, or even grandparents may decide to attend college because they witness your passion, commitment, and discipline. All of us are leaders in some way, shape, or form. Some of us shy away from being first and others hate to be last. No matter where you are in the line, you are still important. So whether you are leading in business, teaching, science, social work, or any of the wonderful studies ECSU has to offer, be the best line leader you can be. Congratulations class of 2021, you did it. Thank you Ms. Robinson. At this time is my pleasure to bring to the podium Mr. Clarence Goss, member of the National Alumni Association Board of Directors who will administer the oath of allegiance to the university and alumni penning in Mr. Abdul Rashid's absence. Boy, Chancellor Dixon to everybody. You know this graduation is going to hit a little different from me. I told you know this one hits to my heart because I see so many faces out there and if you hear the trim of my voice, I'm trying to make it through. It's a little different because 2017 a lot of y'all minister your freshman penning. Was there your freshman penning? One man gave you that. And you put those pens on. I'll take you to pre-alumni oath. So you know this is family. You're now in a family of months, a bigger family than once you came with. And that still holds true today. You look to your left and your right behind you and all the alumni around. You're now in a bigger family that you've ever imagined. And I'm completely off my script, but I'm full right now. So I'm going to get back to my script because when I got out of here, I get to hug some people and before I start stuttering. And so just bear with me. So I'm here on behalf of the President Abdul Rashid. President, hold on, okay. On behalf of President Abdul Rashid, President of the National Alumni Association and retired captain Anthony Swain, Board of President, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Alumni Association, I bring you greetings. I am Clarence Goss Jr., class of 1997, and a proud graduate, proud, proud graduate of Elizabeth City State University. Okay. I stand for you today to minister the oath of allegiance to the university. I can say a chance of thanks that I don't think you understand just how much this class here means a lot to me. I know a lot of their stories in here. You have a lot of stories in here that were delayed and denied. Delayed but not denied. You have a lot of folks in here who broke a lot of things, bones, and they had a lot of setbacks, but those setbacks set them up or set up. There's a lot of legacies in here. Legacies in here who came in and made their own. There's some students in here who came in here and made their own legacies. And they're going to continue to be here. There's some in here who are going to reach higher heights, not only just the aviation majors who are going to go beyond. A lot of those who started at J.C., who started at the bottom, and now you're here. I love you all, and it's going to be some great heights. So let's get to this oath of allegiance because we've got another part too. So if you will, please stand. This is why you're going on script because you go by the heart. You just lose it right now. All right. So if you will, repeat after me. And if you need to, it's on page 20. You know what? And I'll ask if you're an alumni in the building right now, will you please stand and repeat this too? Because a lot of time as alumni, once we get out, we forget what the allegiance that we are, that we made. We forget about that love. We don't forget the love. We forget about the commitment that we made to the university. So if you will, please stand with our newest alumni and repeat this oath of allegiance. I hereby solemnly pledge unbroken allegiance to my alma mater in appreciation for the, to my alma mater in the appreciation for the opportunities for development afforded me as a student at Elizabeth City State University. I pledge active membership in the National Alumni Association wherever I may be through association with my fellow alumni. I shall forever do my best to uphold the ideals and traditions of my alma mater. I pledge as a person to exemplify high ideals by rendering positive and dignified service to the community, to the state, to the nation and world, thus living to bring honor and respect to my alma mater. So the next part, I think there's in your chairs if she'd be a pin. I'll just my allergies. So there's a pin and at this time I will now conduct the pin portion. This pin you received inducts you into a group of over 20,000 individuals who have earned the unique title of being ECSU alumni. You must first, when you first arrived at ECSU you received a lapel pin and a lot of you are a minister that are open to you and you had your class year inscribed. This morning we will close that circle by giving you this pin. Please take to note two of the components on the pin. One, it is a picture of Lane Hall, our oldest building which has been a part of the university's history over 111 years. And two, the word alumni. By you receiving this designation you are becoming a part of the largest and only permanent constituent group of ECSU. We ask that you wear your pin with pride wherever you go. We would normally ask you to pin alumni with to pin our graduates but due to COVID graduate will ask you to pin themselves. So graduates, you may now pin yourself on your left side. Please be careful. Congratulations. I love you and it's nothing you can do about it and that's on P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby way. Viking pride. Viking pride. And Viking pride. You may be seated to the spring 2021 graduates. Thank you. Thank you for allowing Elizabeth City State University to be woven into the tapestry of your life. As you go forth, remember that you continue to be ambassadors for ECSU. I encourage you to tell our story. Know your story. Share your Viking experience with someone so that they will be inspired to sit where you now sit at the threshold of great opportunities. You will be successful and I urge you to make a difference. Remember the lessons you learned both in and out of the classroom. Always remember to return to visit your university. I wish you much success as you continue your life's journey. At this time, if you will join me, we lost one of our giants that was a big part of the Viking family this week. Please join me for a moment of silence as we recognize the memory of coach Robert L. Vaughn who passed away on Wednesday and he impacted so many lives within the Viking family and beyond. So let's give him a moment of silence. Thank you. Thank you so much. Viking pride. Viking pride. Viking pride. Congratulations class of 2021. Please stand for the singing of the Alma Mater which will be led by Jalen Webb, Nyasia Luke and Frank Bryan. To the water a tribute song we sing of thy true worth to all of us O heroes who thy lovely halls ECSU with duty calls ECSU faith hearts will still love thee ECSU so now we'll join together we'll stay to work let none of us be pained at heart nor in need do we share O to thy lovely halls ECSU will hear when duty calls ECSU faith hearts will still love We have come to the conclusion of our ceremony. We ask that everyone will remain seated until the graduates exit. You will be directed by security. Chancellor Dixon, with permission I declare our 172nd Commencement Convocation closed. Let us receive the benediction from Apostle Edna Lawrence. Before the benediction, I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to come and experience the campus one more time. It makes me remember those of you who are near my age. We had some good days. Isn't that right? It's not about us. It's about you. So we're going to give you a benediction and ascending off from the Lord at the same time. Is that all right? That's all right. Mighty Father, in the precious name of Jesus, Lord, we thank you for these graduates. We ask that your holy hands will wrap around them and do a work in their lives. Father God, as they enjoy each other right now, but God, when the celebration is over, we ask that these graduates will have lives of many celebrations in many forms. Father God, when the work is upon them, Lord, we ask God that they will receive a peace and ability to work like they've never worked before. Father God, when these young people who will become old folks, Lord, a challenge, Father, we ask God that they shall ever remember that they can call upon your precious name and you shall respond. Father God, we ask, Lord, that when the speeches are over and this event is commenced, Father God, we ask that you will give them experiences that will cause them to raise their voices in dark places, to raise their voices in court rooms, in justice halls, in pool pits, in workplaces, in classrooms, in board rooms, wherever you want to use these young folks, God. Father God, use them. But Lord, before they can truly be used, there needs to be something set afire. So, Father God, with the apostolic anointing that you've given me, Lord, I ask that an anointing shall be placed upon the class of 2021. I ask that an anointing from glory shall light a fire in each graduate this day. And may that anointing keep them out of harm's way. The anointing keep them from being unemployed, Lord, that the anointing will give them a peace and understanding. The anointing will bring your skills up from your heart. That anointing will cause you to hold on to your brother and your sister regardless of their differences. Class of 2021, as this comes to a close, let it be a great beginning in your life. May the Holy Spirit set a fire in your belly as never before. And may that fire light up because we really want you to go out into the world and set this world on fire like it's never been set before. May you carry grace, love, achievements and new discoveries for generations to come. Amen, amen and amen. Class of 2021, go forth into the world and make it better in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen.