It’s graduation weekend in the Triangle, as thousands receive college diplomas
Cloudy with a chance of mortarboards was the forecast Saturday morning as thousands of Triangle graduates took the first steps towards the rest of their lives. Tassels were turned, tears were shed and futures began.
In all, eight Triangle schools planned their graduations for Mother’s Day weekend, most electing to hold their ceremonies on Saturday.
NC State held the largest commencement Saturday, awarding 6,125 diplomas at PNC Arena. The school’s commencement speaker was IBM CEO Virginia Rometty.
Shaw University’s commencement was held Saturday morning at downtown Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater. In anticipation of poor weather, St. Augustine University moved its ceremony indoors to the school’s Emery Gymnasium. Campbell University held its graduation Saturday morning at the school’s convocation center.
Raleigh’s Meredith College planned its commencement for Saturday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
North Carolina Central University in Durham welcomed 684 new graduates. Alumnus the Rev. William Barber delivered the Eagles’ commencement address.
“I’m here to tell you, if you graduate and get up and get together and get involved, love can take on hate, mercy can take on meanness, justice can take on injustice, truth can defeat lies,” Barber said during his remarks.
Duke and UNC commencement ceremonies will be held Sunday morning.
This story was originally published May 11, 2019 at 2:23 PM.
