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Christopher Newport University’s 2024 Winter Commencement Ceremony honored nearly 150 graduates. For the first time since 2005, the event featured the same music, regalia and traditions of the larger ceremony held in May.
“The pomp and circumstance of tonight is in honor of you and your families,” President William G. Kelly told the graduates. “ It is the right thing to do. All of this is for you and because of you - Congratulations Captains!”
The Wednesday, Dec. 18, event in Diamonstein Concert Hall was also historic because the first students to graduate from the Community Captains program received their degrees.
Scores of family members, friends, and supporters of the graduates attended or watched via livestream. Many CNU faculty and staff members also participated in the ceremony. The event began with the traditional processional followed by the Investiture of the Mace by Dr. Jay Paul, the senior member of the faculty. Grace Farris ‘27 sang the National Anthem and Board of Visitors Rector Christy Morton ‘01 offered a greeting.
President Kelly was joined by Paul and Provost Quentin Kidd for the joyous conferral of degrees and traditional hooding of graduates. The degrees included the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Science.
The ceremony drew to a close after the Hon. Nate Fontaine ‘07, president of the CNU Alumni Society, welcomed the graduates into the community of Captains for Life. For all, this night was an accomplishment years in the making. For four graduates, though, it also marked 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.
President Kelly also saluted graduates Lily Brunner, Theodore Russell, Mikayla Compere, and Jamil Koroma. All four are ROTC cadets who will almost immediately continue their service to their country. “Let us thank them for their service, their bravery, and the accomplishment of earning a college degree while fulfilling all of the responsibilities to earn a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army,” President Kelly said.