After Auburn Arena featured a record-breaking men's basketball season, it played host to Saturday's 2019 spring commencement ceremonies.
The 10 a.m. ceremony honored students from the College of Business.The 2 p.m. ceremonies recognized graduates from the College of Agriculture, College of Architecture, Design and Construction, College of Human Sciences, School of Nursing and the respective graduate students. And the 6 p.m. ceremony featured the College of Business,
Auburn University President Steven Leath addressed the crowd to start off the ceremonies, emphasizing the importance of this day.
“It’s a symbolic closing of a transformative chapter in your lives, but also an inspiring launch of a new chapter,” Leath said. “I’m grateful to celebrate this with you.”
President Leath said this spring, a total of 4,474 degrees would be handed out, making the total now 329,841 in the University's history.
“This brings to life the extraordinary impact Auburn has on the community, state and world,” Leath said.
Ron Sanders, 1982 Auburn graduate and president of Theatrical Distribution and Home Entertainment at Warner Bros. Studios, gave the keynote addresses at the Saturday ceremonies.
Sanders graduated with a degree in marketing, and after working in the business world for a while, he took a job with Warner Brothers, something he never expected to be doing. He used his experiences to relate to this year’s graduates.
“It’s all about taking the opportunities that present themselves," Sanders said. "Sometimes it will be risky, and sometimes it won’t always work out, but in the end, your story can only be written by you."
Sanders also emphasized the importance of the Auburn Family. He discussed how every semester students leave Auburn to explore their passions, but they will always be a part of the Auburn Family.
“For the last four years, you have probably thought about this day, leaving Auburn and what you’re going to do next," Sanders said. "Well, I’m here to tell you that you never truly leave Auburn, and Auburn will never truly leave you."
Following Sanders' address, students took the momentous walk across the stage to receive their diploma. After they flipped their tassel to the other side of their cap, students officially became Auburn alumni.
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