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MARSHALL UNIVERSITY
Pennington helps send off Marshall graduates at 172nd Commencement
HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University's 172nd Commencement program was 68 pages long, filled with the names of students who have finished their undergraduate or graduate degrees since last August.
But with every one of the nearly 2,600 names comes a story. Some so compelling that Marshall President Stephen Kopp addressed them during his introduction at graduation ceremonies at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena Saturday morning.
There is Will Starcher, who started at Marshall in 1994, took an eight-year break, won an inventor's contest with his sister, has a patent pending and has battled dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.
There's Jamar and Marvyn Grayson, identical twins who took nearly every class together toward earning degrees in microbiology. Both want to pursue careers in medicine.
Erik Vint, an offensive lineman for the Thundering Herd football team, came to Marshall in 2006 with 78 college credits that he earned by taking an accelerated program in high school. He double majored in biology and chemistry and will come back in the fall to continue playing football and start his master's degree program. He should have that one earned by the time he is true senior.
Sisters Beth Wolfe and Rikki Lowe, eight years apart in age, both earned their master's degrees, and both finished with 4.0 grade point averages.
Or Matt McGuire, who became the first trans-Atlantic dual degree graduate in West Virginia -- meaning he also attended University of Debrecen in Budapest, Hungary, and the Warsaw School of Social Psychology in Poland and also will receive a degree from one of those institutions. Or Miss West Virginia Jessi Pierson, who finished her elementary education degree in three and one-half years and graduated magna cum laude.
Adam Cavalier, on the university's student radio station WMUL staff, has won 93 awards in local and international broadcasting contests. He's even been named one of the top five collegiate radio sportscasters in the nation and is up for the Jim Nantz Award this June.
Then there's Daniel Howerton, a senior biology major whose story took an unexpected turn last September when he was diagnosed with cancer. A 1.3-pound tumor was removed, followed by 105 days of intensive chemotherapy. After a second surgery this past March, Howerton's doctors told him he is cancer free. And, despite days when he was too weak to even stand up, he persevered and finished his senior year so he could graduate on time.
There is also a story behind the commencement speaker, Chad Pennington. The December 1999 Marshall graduate, who led the Thundering Herd to an undefeated season and now is the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, has twice won the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year Award. But you may not know that his parents had him repeat the eighth grade, was only recruited by two schools and started as Marshall's fourth-string quarterback.
"I learned to dream, believe and achieve at Marshall," said Pennington, who also was presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. "I speak not only as a former athlete and student, but as a son of Marshall. I am where I am because of you."
Pennington talked about success, what it really means and how to truly get there. Even with a troubled job market staring graduates in the face, he told them to continue to work hard. Because even the failures that are sure to come won't be in despair.
"Embrace failure," he said. "We've been trained not to embrace it, not to learn from our mistakes. But how do you truly know what success is until we experience failure?"
As a man who has faced hurdles throughout his life, Pennington said he continually shook off those who didn't believe in him. And he told the students they probably wouldn't have been in the Big Sandy Superstore Arena receiving their degrees had they not done the same.
"I encourage you to reflect on how you reached this point," he said. "You never accepted the word, 'no.' You were told you can't go to college. Told you might start but not finish. But you didn't focus on the problems. You looked at the obstacles as opportunities."
After the thousands of names were read, Kopp challenged this year's graduates to be the first penguin to dive into the unknown waters, making way for the rest of the group to follow.
"Be the risk taker," Kopp said. "It's the courage to try that often matters most."
