Winter 2012 | Campus News


Cosby challenges HU grads to set goals and act on them


Mist and even drizzle at times did not dampen the spirits of Hampton Univer- sity graduates during the 141st Annual Commencement exercises held May 8 in Armstrong Stadium. The Mother’s Day ceremony was a joyous occasion filled with the sound advice, serious challenges and the humor of the keynote speaker Dr. William “Bill” Cosby. Cosby told the 980 graduates not to use their diploma as a Mother’s Day gift for their mothers. He said a good gift would be to tell them, “I found an apart- ment and I am paying for it.” On a more serious note, Cosby told the graduates, that now is not the time to follow your dreams but to set goals and act on them. He said the world needs honest politicians and people getting out and voting. He encouraged the gradu- ates to volunteer and tutor and mentor youth in underserved communities. “Now is the time to act on all those things you see that are wrong with the world,” he said. “It is up to you to make God smile. It is up to you to make Jesus smile.”


HU President Dr. William R. Harvey also challenged the graduates and told them that he wanted them to go out and make their mark on the world. “My charge to you is to see the horizon not as a limit but as an invitation,” Har- vey said.


The Class of 2011 valedictorian and


Student Government President Jeffery Eugene accepted Harvey's challenge and spoke about the ways the graduates were going to use the “Education for Life” they received at HU. At the ceremony, three HU alumni


were honored for their contributions to society and their alma mater. Jackie Parker ’86 and C. Kenneth Ewell ’88 both received the Outstanding Alumnus- at-large award. Parker is the president of the Newell Rubbermaid Foundation and Ewell currently serves as a partner in Waterstone Management Group. The Outstanding Twenty-Year Alumnus honoree was Dr. Damian L. Covington ’91. Covington is a physician with the Dominion Medical Associates, Inc.


30 Hampton University Alumni Magazine


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