
Three hundred graduates received their diplomas at Oglethorpe University on May 18, the college’s largest commencement to date. More than 3,000 attendees joined the graduates at the ceremony.
Oglethorpe President Dr. Kathryn McClymond talked about the high school class of 2020’s virtual or socially distant graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and their start to college during that unsettling time.
“You embody the spirit of the Stormy Petrel, and our motto, ‘Nescit cedere,’ which means ‘Those who do not know how to give up,'” said McClymond.
Commencement speaker Rose Scott, radio host of WABE’s “A Closer Look,” encouraged graduates to let this moment be the “first drop that fills [their] cup.”
“As your cup overflows with purpose, passion and pride, might it be a basin of knowledge and inspiration to others…might it also be used to birth new ideas and concepts that benefit our earth and her people,” Scott said.

Watch more of Scott’s speech here in the livestream.
