Featured photo by Myles Valerie
Story by Hannah Carley and Noah McLane
Murphy Center shook with a joyful ruckus on Saturday as parents and well-wishers celebrated MTSU graduates with two commencement ceremonies and inspiring convocation speeches by MTSU alumni Peggy Chabrian and Byron Smith.
Morning ceremony
Ecstasy billowed up from the ground floor as students from the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, Behavioral and Health Sciences and the College of Education filed into their seats, spurred on from the crowd like gladiators who had vanquished an impossible foe.
After singing the university’s long list of praises and congratulating the nearly 1,600 graduates from doctoral, education specialist and masters programs, as well as seven undergraduate colleges, MTSU President Sidney McPhee introduced Chabrian to deliver the day’s first address.
“Our communities, our industries and our institutions face many challenges,” Chabrian, an award-winning aviation educator, said. “The solutions don’t solely lie in sophisticated plans, clever strategies, additional legislation, or new technology. The solutions lie in the character of the people.”
To help the graduates rise to the challenge, Chabrian offered them some of her most dear advice for cultivating success: spelling it. After all, the National Aviation Hall of Famer and founder of the Women in Aviation nonprofit knows a thing or two about success.
“I took each letter in the word [success] and came up with a word,” Chabrian said to the sea of flowing black robes and square caps.
Chabrian noted the importance of strategy, utility, creating opportunities, caring, enthusiasm, speaking up and satisfying yourself.
“Be strategic with the jobs you take,” Chabrian said before warning that not every job will advance an individual’s career goals, so keeping those goals in mind while accepting new positions is highly important.
She shared that her first university level opportunities came from her asking if her school was hiring any faculty members at the end of her doctoral dissertation.
“It is good to care about our family, our friends, our community — but remember to take some time to care about you,” Chabrian said. “Take some time to relax, exercise, travel. Have some fun.”
Chabrian offered an anecdote about a magazine printer who printed her organization’s first year of issues for free — all because Chabrian didn’t hold back her passion when telling the printer about her vision.
Before University Provost Mark Byrnes began presenting candidates for degrees, Chabrian left the graduates with a kernel of wisdom:
“Do not compromise on your dreams or values or allow others to lead you away from your path. I pray that each of you will know success and be a witness unto others. Congratulations to each and everyone.”
Afternoon ceremony
Graduates with sashes, medallions and colorful cords draped over their necks filed into their seats while the MTSU brass ensemble performed the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance,” kicking off the afternoon procession.
MTSU alumni and venture capitalist Byron Smith spoke at the afternoon ceremony for the Jones College of Business, College of Liberal Arts, College of Media and Entertainment and the University College.
McPhee introduced him as a 1984 graduate of MTSU with a double major in economics and political science. Smith received his MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, where he continued his studies in economics and strategic planning.
The managing director at Mountain Group Partners currently serves on the boards of Silicon Ranch, AngelEye, ReVida Recovery, AirVet, Verility and The Bowl Animal Health.
“What on Earth can prepare you for that?” the first-generation college graduate asked the crowd. “It’s simple: being a liberal arts major, or a business school major or a media and entertainment major from Middle Tennessee State University.”
MTSU is the number one provider of college graduates for the greater Nashville economy and a leader in serving adult learners and veterans. For the sixth consecutive year, the Princeton Review ranked MTSU on its list of the best colleges in the United States, McPhee said.
Smith said he chose to speak at the afternoon graduation on purpose in order to address the liberal arts and media majors: “Your journey is exactly my journey.”
He encouraged students to play to their strengths, not focus on their weaknesses.
“The process of fixing your weaknesses is exhausting,” Smith said. “The process of really maximizing what you’re gifted to do is exhilarating. So, focus on your strengths and put yourself in places where your strengths can be used most.”
Smith left the class of 2024 with a warning about the risk of recruiters “pigeon-holing” postgrads into a limited set of abilities. He explained the importance of graduates giving themselves enough room to write a new chapter.
He likened the journey to success to mountain climbing. “Climbers are unable to travel straight to the top, only side to side,” Smith said. “Success isn’t a dream waiting on the other side of the hill. When you get to the top of that first hill, you realize that no matter what the map said, what’s on the other side is different.”
Hannah Carley is a reporter for MTSU Sidelines
Noah McLane is the lead news reporter for MTSU Sidelines
To contact the News Editor, email [email protected].
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