Northern Illinois University, families celebrate fall semester graduates

DeKALB ­– College students embarked on post-college life Sunday morning as Northern Illinois University held fall graduation for students.

At 10 a.m., NIU began welcoming its most recent graduates at the NIU Convocation Center on West Lincoln Highway.

To open the ceremony, NIU’s steel drum band led in the academic procession, immediately followed by “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by NIU student Matthew Callahan.

NIU President Lisa Freeman started the opening remarks, saying, “We are proud of your accomplishments and prouder still to call you our alumni.” She went on to mention the individual accomplishments of a small handful of especially distinguished new graduates.

Freeman was followed by speakers such as Executive Vice President Beth Ingram and Board Secretary Robert W. Pritchard. Both had messages of congratulations and inspiration for the new graduates. Pritchard, especially, made sure to remind the graduates to put their recent acquired education to good use.

“I would like to suggest that the most patriotic thing you can do as an educated American is to take advantage of a right that others have fought and died for to protect,” Pritchard said. “The right to speak your mind in the election process and in the ballot box.”

Ingram, too, heartily congratulated her former students.

“The fact that you are sitting here today means that you have excelled academically,” Ingram said. “The faculty do not award degrees lightly. We know that you stretched your horizons. You met people from places that you didn’t know exist. You struggled with difficult ideas. And you accomplished things you never dreamed you could master. And you’ve chosen wisely, because your choices have earned you a degree from one of the top universities in the country.”

When President Freeman stepped up again, it was to instruct the graduates to move their tassel from the right of their caps to the left, indicating their new status as alumni.

To receive their diplomas, students were filtered to either side of the stage. Although the audience members were asked not to cheer for their own graduates in order to keep things moving, every graduate received a cheer from friends, family or peers.

After the ceremony, families and students reconnected outside of the stadium.

There were two graduation ceremonies that day, the second beginning at 2 p.m. The morning commencement celebrated the students of the colleges of engineering and engineering technology, liberal arts and sciences, and visual and performing arts. The afternoon commencement celebrated those students graduating from the colleges of business, education and health and human services.

Tickets for attending friends and family had been available for student purchase earlier in the season. Commencement also was broadcasted live for those unable to make the ceremony in person.

Amy Jane-Johnson works in the English as a second language lab at NIU and attended the ceremony to celebrate the graduation of her student, Mohammad Alhejaili. Alhejaili graduated with a major in engineering and engineering technology.

“He was very shy at first. But then I just watched Mohammad bloom at NIU,” Johnson said. “His graduation – it’s really bittersweet. I’m really proud of him and what he’s accomplished, but I’m gonna miss him like crazy.”

At the end of December, Alhejaili will return home to Saudi Arabia. When asked about his journey at NIU, Alhejaili simply said, “It was amazing.”

Devynn Jackson of South Holland has similar feelings about NIU, where she majored in psychology.

“It was long, but very, very worth it,” Jackson said. “I feel amazing. I feel like I accomplished so much.”