Over 900 students from the college walked across the stage during the university’s commencement weekend on May 9-10.
More than 200 graduate students took part in a separate university-wide ceremony, and 715 undergraduates participated in the College of Education and Health Professions commencement at Bud Walton Arena – an inspiring ceremony complete with Star Trek references, a hog call, and an impromptu dance party.
Dean Kate Mamiseishvili opened the program with words of wisdom from legendary head football coach Lou Holtz. Insights and quotes from elite sports coaches influenced the dean’s leadership throughout the 2024-25 academic year.
“Every day, some ordinary person does something extraordinary,” she said, quoting Holtz. “Today, it’s your turn.”
Mamiseishvili noted that the many professions the college’s graduates will be entering allow ordinary people to do extraordinary things every day.
“You represent the caring professions that bring hope and comfort to people in their times of greatest need,” she said. “You, our educators and healthcare professionals, are our most significant investment in the future and our greatest hope.”
Wen-Jou Lo, an associate professor of educational statistics and research methods and chair of the College Council, invited graduates to embrace their constantly expanding potential.
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to leverage your education to explore new opportunities, seek out new connections, and boldly go where no Razorback has gone before,” he said.
Keynote speaker Valorie Kondos Field, who led the UCLA Women’s Gymnastics program to seven national championship titles, inspired students who walked during the ceremony to chase their “big, bold, audacious” dreams.
“Truth is, there have been over 180 billion people on this planet, and of all those billions of people, there has never been another you,” she said. “There’s no one else who could ever be as good at being you as you are, and vice versa when you try to be somebody else.”
Kondos Field concluded her speech with an invitation to graduates to kick off their new lives by joining her and the entire platform of deans and dignitaries for a dance party fueled by Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
Once the dance party had subsided and graduates had finished crossing the stage, Mamiseishvili invited Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Terry Martin and University of Arkansas Board of Trustees member Ed Fryar to lead graduates and their loved ones in a celebratory hog call.
The ceremony concluded with well-wishes from Mamiseishvili, but the college’s graduates were left with one lingering question from Kondos Field as they exited the arena and entered the next chapter of their lives.
“What is your big, bold, audacious, borderline crazy dream?”
