Commencement
There have been Commencement exercises at Old Dominion University (ODU) since 1945, when the institution was known as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary.
Contents
History
Students would complete their first two years of study at the Norfolk Division and then transfer to either the Williamsburg campus of the College of William & Mary or Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) in Blacksburg, though it was not uncommon for Norfolk Division students to attend other universities throughout the country as well. The official recognition of students successfully completing the Norfolk Division’s course of study did not occur until May 1943, when for the first time completion certificates were presented to eligible students during final convocation exercises that marked the end of the academic year. College convocations, while not directly associated with commencement, were mandatory assemblies of the student body conducted at the university in which special programs or speakers were presented with the intention of enhancing the academic experience and fostering a sense of community.
The first formal commencement exercises conducted by the Norfolk Division took place in June 1945 at the new Larchmont School Auditorium where seventeen students were awarded Associate of Arts degrees. By 1956, the Norfolk Division awarded its first four year baccalaureate diplomas to fifteen eligible students. In June 1966, the first master’s degrees were awarded, where Margaret Simmons became the first African American student to receive a degree from Old Dominion. Ronald Horne became the first African American to receive an undergraduate degree from Old Dominion in 1969. The first winter Commencement took place in December 1985. From 1985 to 1990, another ceremony was added in August but it became too hectic to perform three ceremonies each year. Over time, students completing their studies in August would eventually join the winter graduates during the December ceremony. Commencement exercises between 1945 and 2002 have taken place in various locations throughout the city of Norfolk, both on campus and off, such as the old Norfolk Arena, Foreman Field, and Norfolk Scope. Starting in December 2002, commencement exercises began to be conducted on campus at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, there were no Commencement ceremonies held in 2020. Starting in May 2023, the spring undergraduate ceremony has taken place at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Traditions
Walk Across Campus
During the Commencement exercises, students walk from Webb University Center, along Kaufman Mall, and down Hampton Boulevard dressed in academic regalia towards the ceremony in the Ted Constant Convocation Center. All graduating seniors are allowed to step on the University Seal on the mall as new alumni of the university; only alumni are allowed to step on the seal.
University Mace
The University Mace is carried during the Commencement ceremony by the University Marshal to lead the academic processional and recessional, and is displayed on the platform during the ceremony. The mace was commissioned by the university for the inauguration of Joseph M. Marchello as the fourth president in 1985. It was designed by William Wagner and was created by Dianne DeBeixedon, both professors of art at ODU, and features a silver head with a three-dimensional evolution of the elliptically-shaped University Medallion. The shaft was crafted from Brazilian rosewood.
University Medallion
The University Medallion is worn by the President of Old Dominion University. The original medal was authorized by the Board of Visitors in 1976 and first worn by Alfred B. Rollins, Jr. at his inauguration as the third president. Designed by Donald A. Borja, class of 1969, the medallion represents the continuance of higher education.
Commencement Speakers
1940-1949
1945: June – Robert C. McClelland, Faculty, College of William & Mary in Norfolk, Virginia
1947: June – Rear Admiral W.L. Ainsworth Commandant Fifth Naval District
1948: June – Sharvey G. Umback, Dean of the College of William & Mary
1949: June – Dr. Walter S. Newman, President, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
1950-1959
1950: June – Dr. Walter T. McFall, Professor of Dentistry, Emory University
1951: June – Dr. Raymond B. Pinchbeck, Dean, University of Richmond
1952: June – Mr. Alvin Duke Chandler, President, College of William & Mary
1953: June – Porter Hardy, Jr. U.S. House of Representatives, Norfolk, Virginia
1954: June – Colgate W. Darden, Norfolk, Virginia
1955: June – Mr. H. Edgar Timmerman. First Director of Norfolk Division; October – George J. Oliver, Head, William & Mary Department of Education
1956: June – A.E.S. Stephens, Lieutenant Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia; October – Charles F. Marsh, Charter member of faculty, College of William & Mary in Norfolk, first economics professor
1957: June – W. Carson Ryan, Kenan Professor of Education, Emeritus, University of North Carolina
1958: June – Paul H. Farrier, Executive Secretary State Council of Higher Education
1959: June – Robert B. House University of North Carolina
1960-1969
1960: June – Frank. P. Graham, President, University of North Carolina
1961: June – Dr. Fred C. Cole. President, Washington and Lee.
1962: June – John F. Chapman, Associate Editor, Harvard Business Review
1963: June – Dr. Willis M. Tate, President, Southern Methodist University
1964: June – Charles F. Marsh, President, Wofford College
1965: June – Dr. Harmon H. Bro, Director of the Institute of the Study of Adult Psychology, Evanston, Illinois
1966: June – Dr. Frederick C. Barghoorn, Chairman, Council on Russian and East European Studies, Yale University
1967: June – John T. Caldwell, Chancellor, North Carolina State University
1968: June – Dr. Noah Langdale Jr., President, Georgia State College
1969: June – Colgate W. Darden, President Emeritus, University of Virginia; August – James L. Bugg, ODU President
1970-1979
1970: June – Linwood Holton, Governor of Virginia
1971: June – William B. Spong Jr., United States Senator from Virginia
1972: June -Joseph P. Cosand, United States Office of Education, Deputy Commissioner for Higher Education
1973: June – Mr. Frank Batten, Publisher of The Virginian-Pilot
1974: May – Dr. Lewis W. Webb, President Emeritus ODU
1975: May – Mills E. Godwin, Governor of Virginia
1976: May – Thomas A. Graves Jr., President, College of William & Mary
1977: May – Nicholas von Hoffman, Columnist, Washington Post
1978: May – John N. Dalton, Governor of Virginia
1979: May – Gordon K. Davies, Director, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
1980-1989
1980: May – Dorothy Doumar, Board of Visitors; Gordon McDougall, President of the Student Body; Alfred B. Rollins Jr., President of ODU
1981: May – Dorothy Doumar, Board of Visitors; Rickey Adams, President of the Student Body; Alfred B. Rollins Jr., President of ODU
1982: May – Alfred B. Rollins President ODU, Dorothy Doumar, Board of Visitors, Keith Curtis, President Student Body
1983: May – John T. Casteen III, Secretary of Education, Virginia; December: Wasn’t an official Commencement but termed “Student Recognition Day. ” Dr. Robert Ash, Acting Dean, School of Engineering was the speaker
1984: May – Charles S. Robb, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
1985: May – Alfred B. Rollins, Jr., President of Old Dominion University; August – Wasn’t an official Commencement but termed “Student Recognition Day. ” Richard T. Adams, class of 1981 was the speaker; December – G. William Whitehurst, 2nd Virginia District, U.S. Congress
1986: May – Howard W. Jones, Jr, Eastern Virginia Medical School.; August – Israel Taback, NASA (1st official summer Commencement); December – Dr. Jean Bernard Gazarian, UN General Assembly
1987: May: Thomas P. Newsom, Tonight Show saxophone player; August: Owen B. Pickett, U.S. Congressman; December: Grace Brewster Murray Hopper, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
1988: May – Robert Osborne Reid, former Head of Oceanography at Texas A&M; August: Mary Blackburn Walsh, Nursing Educator; December: Gene R. Carter, Superintendent of Norfolk Public Schools
1989: May – No special speaker. Just remarks from the honorary degree recipient, Edwin W. Chittum, former Superintendent of Chesapeake Public Schools; August: William B. Spong, Interim President of ODU, Brenda T. Williams, Douglas Tudor; December: No special speaker. Just remarks from the honorary degree recipient, Stephen J. Wright
1990-1999
1990: May – No special speaker. Just remarks from the honorary degree recipient, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Retired); August: No speaker; December: Edwin Newman, Journalist
1991: May – James Koch, President of ODU; December: Joseph J. Sisco, U. S. Diplomat
1992: May – Mary Sue Terry, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia; December: Admiral David E. Jeremiah, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1993: May – Leah Sears-Collins, Georgia Supreme Court Justice; December – Owen B. Pickett 2nd Congressional District
1994: May – Donald S. Beyer Jr., Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; December – Gerald L. Baliles, former Governor of Virginia
1995: May – John J. Sheehan, General U.S. Marine Corps Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command; December – Beth E. Polson, Executive Producer Polson Company
1996: May – Samuel D. Proctor, American Civil Rights Figure; December – Joanna Lau, President of LAU Technologies
1997: May – Normon Sisisky, Fourth District, Virginia, Congress; December – Willie E. Gary, Esquire, Hoffler and Associates
1998: May – Bill Cosby, Comedian; December – Morton Dean, ABC News National Correspondent
1999: May – Sam Donaldson, Reporter, White House Correspondent; December – Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr. Commander in Chief Joint Forces Command and Supreme Allied Commander
2000-2009
2000: May – Fred Rogers, children’s television personality; December 17, 2000: Randall Pinkston, Anchorman
2001: May – Tim Russert, NBC’s “Meet the Press”; December – Roberta Bondar, Canadian Physician, Astronaut
2002: May – Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister of Netherlands; December – Steve Coll, Managing Editor of Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize Winner
2003: May – Thomas Schievelbein, Northup Grumman, and David Goode, of Norfolk Southern. (Split Ceremony); December – Elie Weisel, Holocaust Museum Founder, Author: Night
2004: May – Alton “Jay” Harris, ESPN Sportscaster and class of 1987, and Admiral Vern Clark Chief of Naval Operations (Split Ceremony); December – Mark R. Warner, Governor of Virginia
2005: May – John McCaslin, Washington Times and Chicago Tribune, and Cathryn Cranston, Harvard Business Review Publisher (Split Ceremony); December – Vivienne Poy, Member of Canada Senate
2006: May – Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s “The Situation Room,” and Michael D’Orso, Author of “Like Judgment Day” (Split Ceremony); December – John T. Casteen III UVA President
2007: May – Marian Wright Edelman, Founder of Children’s Defense League, and R. Brooks Hanson, Deputy Editor, Science Magazine (Split Ceremony); December – Robert Anthony “Tony” Snow, White House Press Secretary, and M.G. Vassanji, Author
2008: May – Chris Matthews, “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” and Leonard Pitts, Jr. of the Miami Herald; December – Timothy M. Kaine, Governor of Virginia, and Kathleen Parker, Columnist
2009: May – Lt. Gen Kathleen Gainey, Director for logistics Joint Chiefs of Staff, and David Gergen, Director of Communications for Ronald Reagan; December – Benjamin S. Carson, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient by President George W. Bush, and Marilyn Tam, Director and Founder of Us Foundation
2010-2019
2010: May – Klaus Scharioth, German Ambassador to the United States, and Alina Cho, “American Morning” on CNN; December; Robert F. Mc.Donnell, Governor of Virginia, and Admiral William J. Fallon, U.S. Navy
2011: May – Blythe J. McGarvie, Author, “Shaking the Globe: Courageous Decision-Makers in a changing World,” Jim Webb, Virginia Senator, and Adriane M. Brown, COO Intellectual Ventures; December – General Stephane Abrial, of NATO’s Allied Commander Transformation, and Patricia J. Williams, Lawyer, Author: “The Alchemy of Race and Rights”
2012: May 4 and 5 – Les Payne, Pulitzer Prize Winning Reporter, Wendy Bahr, Vice President, Strategic Partners for the Worldwide Partner Organization for Cisco. Jack J. Ross, President & COO of Dominion Enterprises; December – Christine Mann Darden, Director, NASA Langley, Kenneth A. Samet, President and CEO, Medstar Health
2013: May 10 and 11 – Ines Bustillo, Director, Office of United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. J. Randy Forbes, U.S. Congress, Barry C. Black, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy; December – Honorable Scott Rigell, U.S. House of Representatives, Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone
2014: May 9 and 10 – Nancy Kirkpatrick, President of Lionsgate Movie Company. Alma J. Powell, America’s Promise Alliance; December Mike Petters, CEO Huntington Ingalls Industries, Robert C. Bobby Scott, U.S. House of Representatives
2015: May 8 and 9 – Terry McAuliffe, Governor of Virginia, Marcia K. Brand, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; December – Alice C. Hill, White House National Security Council, The Honorable Ralph S. Northam, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
2016: May 6 and 7 – Robb Wittman, Congressman, Robert M. Blue, Senior Vice President of Dominion Power, and Joyce Roche, CEO, Girls Incorporated. December 17 – Rear Admiral Peter A. Gumataotao, Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Policy with Supreme Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, and Molly Ward, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources
2017: May 5 and 6 – Tim Seibles, English Professor and Virginia Poet Laureate (May 5 Graduate ceremony), Christine Pantoya, Senior Vice President of Mobile Strategy for the NBA (May 5 College of Arts and Letters), Ting Xu, Founder and President of Evergreen Enterprises (May 6 Darden College of Education and Strome College of Business), and Angela Hucles, Founder and CEO of Empowerment Through Sport and an Olympic gold medalist (May 6 Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Health Sciences, and College of Sciences). December 16 – Drew Ungvarsky, class of 2002 and CEO and Executive Creative Director of Grow, an advertising agency (College of Sciences, Darden College of Education, Batten College of Engineering and Technology), and Miki Toliver King, Vice President, Operations and Digital Marketing at the Washington Post (College of Arts and Letters, Strome College of Business, College of Health Sciences)
2018: May 4 and 5 – John A. Adam, Mathematics Professor (May 4 Advanced Degree ceremony), Reuben E. Brigety II, Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (May 4 College of Arts and Letters), Liz Edlich ’85, Founder and CEO of Radical Skincare (May 5 Strome College of Business and Darden College of Education), and Sharon Dunbar, Vice President and General Manager of Federal Systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems (May 5 Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Health Sciences, and College of Sciences). December 15 – James A. Squires, Chairman, President and CEO of Norfolk Southern (9 am: Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Sciences), and Justin E. Fairfax, Lt. Governor of Virginia (2 pm: College of Arts and Letters, Strome College of Business, College of Health Sciences).
2019: May 10 and 11 – Maj. Gen. Jeanette (Jan) K. Edmunds (U.S. Army-Ret.) (May 10 College of Arts and Letters), Dr. Carolyn Rutledge, Professor of Nursing at ODU and Professor of Family Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School (May 10 Advanced Degree ceremony), Betsy Duke ’83, Chair of Wells Fargo’s Board of Directors (May 11 Strome College of Business and Darden College of Education and Professional Studies), Tim Kaine, United States Senator from Virginia and former Governor of Virginia (Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Health Sciences and College of Sciences). December 14 – Aubrey L. Layne, Jr., Virginia Secretary of Finance (9 am: Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, and College of Sciences), and Kenneth C. Alexander, Mayor of Norfolk (2 pm: College of Arts and Letters, Strome College of Business, and College of Health Sciences).
2020-Present
2020: No in-person Commencement ceremonies were held as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic
2021: May 5 – U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner (Va.), virtual ceremony. December 18 – Lt. Gen. Donna W. Martin ’88, 67th Inspector General of the U.S. Army (9 a.m.: Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Sciences, and School of Cybersecurity), and Scott Cooke ’93, ’96, Group Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Toyota Financial Services (2 pm: College of Arts and Letters, Strome College of Business, and College of Health Sciences).
2022: May 6 – Angela Bassett, Actress, Director, and Executive Producer (2 p.m.: College of Arts and Letters), Dr. Sachin Shetty, Executive Director of the Center for Secure and Intelligent Critical Systems at ODU’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) (6:30 p.m.: Advanced Degree Ceremony), May 7 – Dr. Brian O. Hemphill, ODU President (9 a.m.: Strome College of Business and Darden College of Education and Professional Studies), Howard P. Kern, president and chief executive officer of Sentara Healthcare (2 p.m.: Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Sciences and the School of Cybersecurity). December 17 – Alton “Jay” Harris ’87, Journalist and Anchor of ESPN’s Sports Center, speaker for both services (9 a.m.: Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Sciences, School of Cybersecurity; 2 p.m.: College of Arts and Letters, Strome College of Business, College of Health Sciences, the Graduate School).
2023: May 5 – Dr. Nina Brown, Department of Counseling and Human Services (6 p.m.: Advanced Degree Ceremony). May 6 – Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (9 a.m.: College of Arts and Letters, the Strome College of Business, the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, the Batten College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Sciences, the School of Cybersecurity and the School of Nursing). December 16 – Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, U.S. Representative from Virginia, speaker for both services (9:am: College of Arts and Letters, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, College of Sciences, School of Cybersecurity; 12:30 p.m.: Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Strome College of Business, College of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, Graduate School, and School of Data Science).
2024: May 3 – Dr. Lawrence Weinstein, Department of Physics (6 p.m.: Advanced Degree Ceremony). May 4 – Captain Janet H. Days ’99, Commanding Officer for Naval Station Norfolk (8:30 a.m.: College of Arts and Letters, the Strome College of Business, the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, the Batten College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Sciences, the School of Cybersecurity and the School of Nursing).
Resources
- Old Dominion University Commencements, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
- Old Dominion University Photographic and Multimedia Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
- Mace & Crown, Old Dominion University, 1961-2018.