The 2015 commencement was part of Georgia Perimeter College's 50th anniversary celebration. (photo by Judy Ondrey)
Graduates Ada Holloway, Tiffany Ewing and Betty Grogan await their turn to receive their degrees. (photo by Leita Cowart)
GPC's 2015 graduates were awarded their degrees at the May 8 commencement ceremony. (photo by Bill Roa)
Shelley Nickel, University System of Georgia vice chancellor, was the keynote speaker at GPC's commencement. (photo by Leita Cowart)
New graduates celebrate following May 8 commencement ceremony. (photo by Bill Roa)
The Georgia Perimeter College Chorale provided music during GPC's 50th and final graduation. (photo by Judy Ondrey)
Nursing graduate Ada Holloway celebrates. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Wes McReavy, accompanied by his service dog Kiah who was honored with a "dogree," accepts diploma from Georgia Perimeter President Rob Watts. (photo by Judy Ondrey)
Class of 2015 graduates are all smiles at Georgia Perimeter's commencement ceremony. (photo by Bill Roa)
Wes McReavy and his dog Kiah earn degrees.
College marks its 50th and final graduation as Georgia Perimeter
Lots of intense studying and sacrifice have paid off for nursing major Ada Holloway. With exuberance and dignity, the honor student talked about graduating as part of the 50th and final class from Georgia Perimeter College.
“It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it,” she said of her accomplishment. “I couldn’t ask for anything else—and then this is history, too.”
Shelley Nickel, University System of Georgia vice chancellor for planning and implementation, delivered the keynote speech at the historic commencement held May 8 at the Georgia World Congress Center. She saluted the 2015 graduates, while assuring them that next year’s consolidation of Georgia Perimeter with Georgia State University will mean more of a good thing.
“A name change, a leadership change, but still the same mission,” Nickel said.
Rob Watts, Georgia Perimeter’s interim president, invoked the legacy of the school, which began in 1964 as DeKalb College with 763 students on a single campus. Today, there are 21,000 students spread across five campuses and the school’s online college.
“You stand in a line that stretches back two generations to the first graduating class,” Watts said of the nearly 2,100 graduation candidates, although not all attended commencement.
In homage to a bygone era, Watts also sang—to light laughter—his rendition of the 1960s hit “Wild Thing” and cited the considerably lower cost of living when the college got its beginning.
“A lot has changed,” he said. “But the mission of the college has not changed over time.”
Things will change soon for graduate Tiffany Ewing, who works as a police officer in the Bahamas and almost didn’t return for graduation. She nearly cried when expressing gratitude to her police commissioner who not only gave her time off, but also paid travel and lodging expenses for her, her mom and two young children to attend.
What’s more, Ewing’s associate degree in criminal justice will lead to a pay hike. “I’m able to show my daughter how she can be successful like her mother,” Ewing said excitedly.
Meanwhile, Ada Holloway is eagerly awaiting the start of her new job as a nurse at Cobb Hospital in Austell this August. “It’s surreal,” the 45-year-old former financial analyst said.
In a moving moment, just before the presentation of graduation candidates, the Georgia Perimeter College Chorale seemed to signal the changes ahead by singing a melodious arrangement of John David’s “You Are the New Day.”
After this, family, friends and other well wishers went wild—clapping and cheering as their graduates walked across the stage in a joyous salute to Georgia Perimeter College.