{"id":29427,"date":"2019-05-13T09:09:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T13:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=29427"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:11:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:11:19","slug":"commence-2019-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=29427","title":{"rendered":"Congratulations Class of 2019! View commencement highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_29428\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29428\" style=\"width: 627px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29428\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/07\/014119a_spring_commencement121.jpg\" alt=\"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill celebrates the graduation of more than 6,000 students at the annual Spring Commencement May 12, 2019 at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz presided over the ceremony, which marked the graduation of 3,944 undergraduates, 1,244 master\u0092s students, 258 doctoral students and 588 professional students. Jonathan Reckford, 1984 Carolina alumnus and CEO of Habitat for Humanity, delivered the keynote address. (Jon Gardiner\/UNC-Chapel Hill)A graduate smiles in a sea of Carolina blue at the 2019 Commencement ceremonies on May 12. (photo by Jon Gardiner)\" width=\"627\" height=\"418\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29428\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A graduate smiles in a sea of Carolina blue at the 2019 Commencement ceremonies on May 12. (photo by Jon Gardiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>\u201cGodspeed, Class of 2019, and go Heels.\u201d \u2013 Jonathan Reckford, 1984 Carolina alumnus and CEO of Habitat for Humanity.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Carolina celebrates 2019 Commencement\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gS8Digfj6Xk?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>As more than 6,000 Tar Heels participated in Carolina\u2019s graduation ceremony on Sunday, they were challenged to find not just their careers, but their callings, and to ask themselves what they are uniquely wired to do.<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Reckford, a Carolina alumnus and CEO of Habitat for Humanity, delivered the Commencement address for the Class of 2019. He spoke to a crowd of more than 33,000 graduates, family members, professors and friends at Kenan Stadium.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29430\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29430\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29430\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/07\/014119a_spring_commencement115.jpg\" alt=\"Commencement speaker Jonathan Reckford (CEO of Habitat for Humanity). photo by Jon Gardiner\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29430\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commencement speaker Jonathan Reckford (CEO of Habitat for Humanity). photo by Jon Gardiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m asking you to think about how you will find your purpose \u2014 how you will discover, as theologian Frederick Buechner describes it, where the deep gladness of your heart and the world\u2019s great need meet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz presided over the ceremony, which marked the graduation of 3,944 undergraduates, 1,244 master\u2019s students, 258 doctoral students and 588 professional students.<\/p>\n<p>Guskiewicz recalled a Carolina graduation speech that alumnus Charles Kuralt delivered in 1985. Kuralt, he said, urged graduates to join a \u201cconspiracy of good people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love that. A conspiracy of good people,\u201d Guskiewicz said. \u201cThe conspiracy of good people are those who care, whose intrinsic reward and recognition is their belief in serving others\u2026 Today you graduate from an amazing institution that is not only the leading global public research University but is, at its best, the global headquarters for the conspiracy of good people \u2014 the home to students, faculty and staff who gather together to make positive change in our world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his charge to the graduates, Guskiewicz urged them to collaborate; to be patient and deliberate; and to let integrity \u201cilluminate your path and be your impulse for good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reckford imparted lessons from his own experience as a pastor, a world traveler and now as the top executive at Habitat for Humanity. He\u00a0encouraged graduates to reflect on how their Carolina experience has prepared them to take action and successfully address the world\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would urge you to pay attention to the things that gnaw at you over and over,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are the things that will move you to take action \u2014 that will motivate you to make this world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reckford told the audience that Chapel Hill will always be his home. The son of a longtime classics professor at Carolina, Reckford grew up in a house on Franklin Street. His wife and son both graduated from Carolina and his daughter will start at UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure our blood is really Carolina blue,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I get to congratulate you not just as some guy making the Commencement remarks, but as a proud fellow Tar Heel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reckford noted that around the country, Commencement speakers are likely telling graduates to follow their passion. He joked that if he had followed his, he would have attempted a basketball career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLiving in the dorm my sophomore year with two guys named Jordan and Worthy clearly reinforced the idea that talents and abilities don\u2019t always match our passions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he said, perhaps the right equation for finding your purpose, or what you are \u201cuniquely wired to do,\u201d is passion plus ability and a worthy cause.<\/p>\n<p>He told the graduates that the next season of their lives is the time to learn as much about the world as they can, to get experience and \u201cto struggle with the things that you can\u2019t get out of your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is also a time for making decisions about who you will become. I am an adamant believer in strength of character,\u201d Reckford said. \u201cUltimately, your success will be measured not by what you have achieved, but by who you are. Who before what.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Story by Emilie Poplett, video by Aaron Moger and Rob Holliday, University Communications<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unc.edu\/posts\/2019\/05\/12\/watch-commencement\/\"><strong>Watch the livestream of the ceremony.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Enjoy a Thank-You Video from the Class of 2019<\/h3>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The UNC Class of 2019 Says Thank You\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kldOvsl4fuY?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<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unc.edu\/posts\/2019\/05\/11\/doctoral-hooding-comm19\/\">Read more about the doctoral hooding ceremony.<\/a><\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-29482\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/07\/014119a_spring_commencement0461.jpg\" alt=\"A closeup of a student's hat at commencement reads: &quot;Thanks, Mom, Dad and Jack for Supporting Me.&quot;\" width=\"632\" height=\"355\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unc.edu\/discover\/inspirational-messages\/\"><strong>Read a story about students&#8217; colorful messages on their commencement hats.<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As more than 6,000 Tar Heels participated in Carolina\u2019s graduation ceremony on Sunday, they were challenged to find not just their careers, but their callings, and to ask themselves what they are uniquely wired to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29428,"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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