Page 11 / Saturday, May 24, 2008
COMMENCEMENT EDITION
The Pendulum
Grads follow their hearts in planned careers
Photo submitted
Senior Elizabeth Adcock will be joining The World Race,
a service-oriented nnission trip that will send her to 11
countries In 11 months. Adcock has performed service
in New Orleans and Swaziland, where she worked with
orphans and AIDS patients.
Brian Mackey
Reporter
Elon’s 2008 graduating class
has survived eight semesters of
tests, term papers and countless
all-nighters. After four years here,
the Class of 2008 will stand Under
the Oaks with diplomas in hand and
smiling faces. They have studied for
every exam question imaginable,
but they have one question yet to
answer: What next?
Many graduates will find a job
and others will pursue advanced
degrees, but two Elon alumni will
forge a different path.
Senior Elizabeth Adcock will
walk across the podium with a
psychology degree. During her time
at Elon, Adcock’s dedication to
service has taken her from Louisiana
to Swaziland. As a graduate, she will
combine her experience in service
with a passion for adventure. In
October, Adcock will embark on
an 11-month trip called The World
Race.
The World Race is a service-
oriented trip that sends participants
to 11 countries across the
globe. Founded by the Christian
organization Adventures in
Missions, participants spend one
month in each country learning
the culture and helping local
communities.
The catch is that Adcock has no
idea which 11 countries she will be
visiting. During a 10-day training
session in July, she will be told her
first destination. When she reaches
the first country in October, she
will be told her next stop. So goes
the process with Adcock getting
only one month’s notice of her next
destination.
Participants race to find the
quickest and cheapest way to go
from one country to the next. In
teams of five to seven members,
a single group may have to go
from Argentina to Mozambique to
Thailand. As a result, they have had
to get pretty creative.
“Teams have boated, they’ve
ridden on the backs of trucks,”
Adcock said. “They’ve done crazy
things,”
Not only is Adcock an unpaid
volunteer, she also has to fund the
adventure herself. She is relying on
donations from friends and family
to help ease the financial strain.
Although most of her friends are
finding salaried jobs and looking for
their first apartments, Adcock said
she’d much rather participate with
The World Race.
“1 think God really cares about
people who are poor and oppressed,
the widows and the orphans,”
Adcock said. “I want to learn how to
CEire for them.”
Adcock said she thinks this trip
may help prepare her for her future
Ccireer.
“I can definitely see myself doing
international missions long-term,”
she SEiid.
While Adcock will be travelling
across the globe, Senior Bryan
Donald is planning a different
adventure. Along with a friend
from high school, Donald will start
his own business called Datapay-
Massachusetts. With a loan from
the parent company, Datapay Inc.,
Donald’s company will provide
payroll service to businesses in
Massachusetts.
“We’re inheriting a good client
base,” he said, though he noted
that it was small and needed to be
expanded upon.
The company will be partly
owned by Datapay Inc., but will be
autonomously run by Donald and
his associate.
After setting up headquarters,
Donald Will go to local businesses
and persuade them to sign up for
Datapay’s payroll services.
The job will begin with a lot of
sales skills to recruit clients, but
Donald said he hopes to expand the
company so he can manage it at the
executive level.
With a degree in history and a
double minor in political science
and leadership, running a business
straight out of college is a daunting
task, but Donald remains confident.
“I like selling things, and I'm
good at it,” he said.
Regardless of what the future
holds for Donald and Adcock, both
said they are happy to have the
chance to follow their dreams after
graduation.
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LOOKING BACK:
Sullivan gets chance in spotlight
Pendulum Staff
In 2002, former philosophy professor John
SuJJjijtjkn broiieJtus^ilence. It was a moment
Sullivan had envisioned many times: standing at
Ihe podium in full academic regalia, staring out
into a maroon sea of eager graduates waiting to
tlike their place in the world.
He rttrdHt jll planned, down to the very tone
of voice he would trse as he addressed these
young people he had seen grow throughout the
past four years.
Sullivan had been Elon's backup
Commencement speaker since 1980, patiently
waiting in the wings while others had their
moment in the sun. But in 2002, at Elon’s 112th
Commencement exercises, Sullivan finally
delivered the speech he'd rewritten or revised
every year for more than 20 years.
He spoke in the place of Mae Jemison, the
first black female NASA astronaut. She withdrew
from Commencement because of an illness in
her family.
George Troxler, dean of cultural and special
programs, said he knew Jemison wouldn’t be
able to speak a few weeks earher, so Sullivan
was notified of his status in advance.
“I had always imagined that, if 1 was called
on, it would be in an emergency situation — a
plane cancelled, a sudden illness," Sullivan said.
“As it turns out, I have been asked early enough
to have my name in the program. So this seems
more like the real thing.”
Sullivan’s milestone has gained national
recognition. Media outlets including The
Wall Street Journal, the “Today” show, the
Greensboro News & Record and the Burlington
Times-News featured Sullivan within a month of
his speech.
“I'm honored,” Sullivan said. “But this is not
about me. It’s about graduation—these students
who have completed their career here and
are going on to new things. We are just their
cheerleaders.”
Sullivan arrived at Elon in 1970. When former
President Fred Young asked him to be a backup
speaker in 1980, Sullivan was pleased to oblige.
“I was their insurance policy,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan had given hundreds of speeches
both on and off Elon’s campus, including an
address immediately following Sept. 11, 2001,
^>ut he was never called upon to fill in for a
Commencement speaker.
“When I started, Elon had mostly first-
generation students, but students are wealthier
now," Sulhvan said. “You have to appeal to a
different kind of audience.”
Speakers used to cover serious, complex
topics, delving deep into philosophical and
political issues. Now, Sullivan says, speeches are
shorter and more celebratory.
“You say a few things, say some stories and
Photo courtesy Elon University
John Sullivan was the alternate speaker for com
mencement tor 20 years before finally getting his
chance to speak in 2002.
you’re done,” he said. “You’re not trying to solve
the issues of the world.”
Sullivan revised his speeches each year and
completely rewrote them every two or three
years.
Troxler said Sullivan gave a wonderful
Commencement speech, as would be expected.
But in the nature of backups, Jeffrey Pugh,
professor of religious studies was installed as
Sullivan's backup speaker in 2002.
Since then, he has held the position
permanently.
“Jeff, very much like Sullivan, always has
something worth-while to say,” Troxler said. We
have a plan for everybody to be backed up. The
people reading the names could get laryngitis.
Someone could get in a car accident on the way
to graduation. We hope it won’t happen, but we
have to plan for those things.”
Troxler said the backup has to be someone
who is already there, since they may have to
step in at the last minute.
“Jeff has the speech in his pocket. Literally,
Troxler said. “He brings it every year and dusts
it off.”
Pugh said it’s an honor to serve the
university in this capacity.
“It would be a great thing to give the speech
one day, but truth be told, how many people
remember their graduation speakers?” Pugh
said. “The day is about the graduates, not the
speaker.”
Carrying on tradition:
Flagbearers represent
Elon at Commencement
Krista Montes de Oca
Reporter
Twenty-seven flags, held high, welcome graduates to the
commencement ceremony. Each flag represents one facet
of the Elon experience: 21 flags represent countries, five
represent the Elon schools and one represents the spirit of
Elon.
Bearers of two Elon University flags lead the graduates
across campus as they experience the grounds from a dif
ferent perspective, perhaps seeing the landscape one last
time.
As the graduates approach the stage Under the Oaks,
they are greeted by students holding 21 flags from foreign
countries. Each flag represents one of the 21 countries
from where Elon students hail.
These flags are held by students who volunteer their
time to be a part of the prestigious and exciting ceremony.
“It's an honor to be a flag bearer,” said George Troxler,
dean of cultural and special programs.
These students, listed as “Student Marshals” in the com
mencement program, receive a cash gift as compensation
for staying days after meal plans stop, as well as housing
arrangements if need be.
The flag bearers literally hold the ideals of Elon in their
hands. The maroon and gold flags stand proudly as the
students are reminded, "Long live Elon!”
Photo courtesy Elon University
Flagbearers Robert Saunders, Chase Rumley and Jostiua Donde
accompany history professor Dr. David Crowe as they lead the
graduates through campus to the 2007 commencement.
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