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Christopher Newport University’s 2024 Winter Commencement Ceremony will honor nearly 150 graduates. For the first time in recent University history, the event will feature the same pomp, regalia and traditions of the larger ceremony held in May.
“You have earned this moment with your classmates, friends and family and we are thrilled that we can be part of it,” said President William G. Kelly in a letter to the graduates.
The Wednesday, Dec. 18, event in Diamonstein Concert Hall will also be historic because the first students to graduate from the Community Captains program will receive their degrees.
Scores of family members, friends, and supporters of the graduates will attend or watch via livestream. Many CNU faculty and staff members will also participate in the ceremony. The event begins the traditional processional followed by the Investiture of the Mace by Dr. Jay Paul, the senior member of the faculty. Grace Farris ‘27 will sing the National Anthem and Board of Visitors Rector Christy Morton ‘01 will offer a greeting. President Kelly will deliver the Commencement Address before he is joined by Paul and Provost Quentin Kidd for the joyous conferral of degrees and traditional hooding of graduates. The degrees will include the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Science.
The ceremony will draw to a close after the Hon. Nate Fontaine ‘07, president of the CNU Alumni Society, welcomes the graduates into the community of Captains for Life. For all, it will mark an accomplishment years in the making. For four graduates, though, it will also mark a milestone moment in the history of the University.
Tejah Butler, Krystal Langhorne, Briana Terry, and Miranda Williamson are the first Community Captains to graduate from CNU, their hometown university. Community Captains is an early admission, two-year college preparatory program focused on preparing Newport News high school students for success after high school no matter where they decide to attend college. If those students decide to attend CNU after high school, they continue to engage with the program and are supported academically, developmentally, and socially. They also continue to serve their community through service and giving back to their younger cohort members. In partnership with Newport News Public Schools and the City of Newport News, CNU started the program six years ago. All four Community Captains not only have the distinction of being first, but also earning their degrees in just 3.5 years.