{"id":24804,"date":"2018-05-14T09:51:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T13:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=24804"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:55:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:55:14","slug":"the-class-of-2018-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=24804","title":{"rendered":"The Class of 2018 graduates!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div class=\"has-content-area\">\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Carolina\u2019s Class of 2018 graduates\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5XPuaZAESOU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>For the more than 6,000 students sitting in a sea of Carolina blue in Kenan Stadium on May 13, the journey to graduation was anything but easy.<\/p>\n<p>There were demanding classes, all-nighters and countless assignments to overcome on the way, but those challenges led to a degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n<p>As the graduates prepare for the next phase of their careers, Marine veteran and social entrepreneur Rye Barcott urged them to continue taking their challenges and turning them into something useful and positive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe truth is, many of life\u2019s most fulfilling moments \u2013 and most accomplishments \u2013 rarely happen without some degree of pain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Barcott, the co-founder of nonprofits Carolina for Kibera and With Honor, delivered the Commencement address as Carolina celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2018 on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24806\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24806\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-24806\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/07\/015718a_spring_commencement161.jpg\" alt=\"Photo shows the class of 2018 in Carolina blue caps and gowns tossing a black ball in the air that says 2018 on it and the UNC 2018 graduation ceremony.\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24806\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(photo by Jon Gardiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chancellor Carol L. Folt presided over the ceremony that drew nearly 30,000 of the graduates\u2019 family and friends, as well as Board of Governors chair W. Louis Bissette, Board of Trustees vice chair Charles G. Duckett and General Alumni Association Board of Directors Chair Jim Delany.<\/p>\n<p>The degrees of 6,119 Carolina students were conferred during the 90-minute ceremony. They included 3,886 with\u00a0bachelor\u2019s, 1,596 with master\u2019s, 262 with\u00a0doctoral and 637 with professional degrees from the schools\u00a0of dentistry, law, medicine,\u00a0nursing and pharmacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour future is brighter because of your degrees, and I know that you\u2019re not going to forget how much you\u2019ve been given,\u201d Folt said. \u201cCarolina seems to bring out the call to serve and a feeling of immense gratitude in all of us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps that is because we\u2019re all so aware of the support of millions of hard-working people in North Carolina and the nation \u2014\u00a0most without your advantages \u2014 together with gifts from alumni and benefactors who care about you that made this day possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Folt reminded the graduates that while their time as Carolina students has come to an end, the University will always be a part of them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou aren\u2019t leaving this place, you are actually carrying the best of it with you,\u201d Folt said. \u201cYour families, your friends, your coaches, your professors believe in you. We can\u2019t wait to see what you will achieve. Go out and solve the biggest mysteries.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24807\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24807\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-24807\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/07\/015718b_spring_commencement1123.jpg\" alt=\"Photo shows a sea of Carolina blue graduation caps and gowns in the Kenan Stadium at the commencement 2018 ceremony.\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24807\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(photo by Jon Gardiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During the ceremony, the University awarded honorary doctorates to Carolina alumnus Phillip L. Clay, an eminent scholar of urban life who served as Chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Judith A. Jamison, a world-renowned American dancer and choreographer; and James F. Goodmon, the CEO and chairman of the board of North Carolina\u2019s Capitol Broadcasting Company.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on his own experiences since graduating from Carolina in 2001, Barcott encouraged the graduates to persevere through difficult and challenging times by maintaining a positive attitude, serving others and keeping perspective.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur beloved University helped open your eyes to the world,\u201d Barcott said. \u201cKeep this perspective. Nurture it. It can help you better take the pain and create something useful \u2014 possibily even something transcendent \u2014 out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Life\u2019s challenges and difficulties, Barcott said, should be embraced and taken head-on. Without them, little is accomplished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy hope for you \u2013 and for us \u2013 is that you do not run from the pain,\u201d he said. \u201cManeuver through the stuff that you can \u2014\u00a0 the pain that\u2019s unnecessary. For the pain that\u2019s part of life, and certainly the pain that\u2019s part of making a difference, keep the tar on your heels.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unc.edu\/story\/spring-commencement\/\">Read more about commencement<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unc.edu\/\">view more photos.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Story by Brandon Bieltz, video by Aaron Moger, UNC Communications<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the more than 6,000 students sitting in a sea of Carolina blue in Kenan Stadium on May 13, the journey to graduation was anything but easy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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