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Downtown San Diego was filled with friends and families making their way to the Convention Center. Proud mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, wives and husbands came bearing gifts, flowers and digital cameras. Someone they knew and loved was about to graduate.
National University president Dr. Dana Gibson welcomed the graduates with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Many a beautiful dream was fulfilled as 1,305 National University students walked down an aisle, up and across a stage and into their new lives as graduates. The diverse graduating class of 2008 was a mix of races, cultures, backgrounds and ages, all in black caps and gowns.
President Gibson noted that National University has awarded more masters degrees to women than any other California institution. National University also leads with degrees granted to Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans.
The graduates of 2008 will join 113,000 alumni from National University.
Actress Meredith Baxter was the commencement speaker. While many know her for her work on Family Ties and numerous made-for-TV movies, Baxter is also a successful entrepreneur and breast cancer survivor.
While Baxter never earned a college degree, she did relate to many of the late bloomers in the audience. Upon graduation from Hollywood High School, Baxter admits she had no direction and no interests. As she says, "I wasted a lot of time because I was wasted a lot of the time."
Baxter's address to the graduating class repeated the refrain, "Could be good, could be bad." She spoke about how all events in people's lives have purposes--some for good and some for bad. Her message seemed to encourage the audience to take everything in stride and to trust in the character-building that comes from both good and bad experiences. While her success in Hollywood and her struggles may seem contradictory, they have shaped her into a representative of both survival and triumph.
After her speech, President Gibson granted Baxter an honorary doctorate degree to celebrate her success as an entrepreneur and for her for her humanitarian efforts in public awareness and fundraising for breast cancer research.
Also honored during the commencement ceremony was professor John Bugado of National University's school of Engineering and Technology. Bougado's 24 years of teaching e-commerce, database support and Cisco programming earned him the "professor emeritus" distinction.
Donald Schwartz, chair of the Finance, Accounting and Economics Department, was honored as well. His leadership and long history of teaching in the School of Business Management proved invaluable as National University bestowed the Distinguished Teaching Award to him.
President Gibson conferred degrees to the graduates by school. Shortly thereafter the graduates themselves walked across a stage, cheered on by their peers and family. It was a happy moment for all when the 1,305 graduates poured out of the San Diego Convention Center on Saturday afternoon faced with a world of opportunity that could be good or could be bad.
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