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Lambuth holds last graduation

 
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7:00 P.M. EST May 2, 2011 | JACKSON, Tenn. (UMNS)


Elizabeth Austin gathers with other students from the last graduating class of Lambuth University prior to commencement exercises in Jackson, Tenn. UMNS photos by Mike DuBose.
Elizabeth Austin gathers with other students from the last graduating class of Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. UMNS photos by Mike DuBose. View in photo gallery

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Not every ending is happy.

When you see a movie, you know the prince and princess will go with their lives. In the case of Lambuth University, the graduates will go on, but their alma mater will not. On April 30, barely two weeks after its board of trustees voted to close the school, Lambuth graduated its last class.

Eighty-two students received degrees during the ceremony; an additional 77 students will complete their degrees by June 30, when the school officially closes. All were able to participate.

Very little distinguished Lambuth’s last graduation from previous ceremonies, save the watery eyes of the faculty walking down the aisle. Lambuth president Bill Seymour wanted to make the day a normal graduation for students. 

“Everyone who cares about this place has reason to be sad,” he told the audience. “But I know God is pleased with what we have done here.”

In December 2010, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools denied reaccreditation of the university, and, in February, denied Lambuth’s appeal of its decision. Without approval by a federally recognized accrediting agency like the Southern Association, a college's students cannot receive federal financial aid.

The school successfully sued to seek an injunction delaying the agency’s decision but the legal battles, coupled with years of financial hardship, led Lambuth’s trustees to decide April 14 that the struggling school could not continue.

Lambuth is reaching out to other schools in the area for “teach-out” agreements, which would allow more than 400 students to transfer without losing credits and keep them on track for their expected graduation date.

Mixed emotions

While graduates and their parents happily marked the milestone, the underlying sadness of the occasion couldn’t be overlooked.


Faculty members reflect on the last commencement ceremony.
Faculty members reflect on the last commencement ceremony.
View in photo gallery

“I’m so thankful to be able to be one of the last people to graduate but I also feel pretty devastated,” said English major Elizabeth Austin. “We’re going to try to stay positive today, but I can’t necessarily say I’ll feel that way tomorrow.”

Austin will attend The University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., in the fall. She plans to earn a master’s in student personnel for higher education.

“I want to be involved in college administration, and I think that is due to everything I’ve seen throughout my four years at Lambuth,” she said.

Austin’s mother, Joy, is an English professor at the school. She was filled with mixed emotions – happiness for her daughter, apprehension for her own future. Joy Austin has deep ties to Lambuth. She is a graduate, as are her husband and oldest daughter, and now her youngest.

“(My plans are) to make it through today,” she said. “Then I’m really not sure. I want to teach. It’s my passion in life.”

Lee Robinson, whose son, Brandon, will complete his degree this summer, is also sad for her hometown.

“I’m sad for the community and the people here who’ve supported it for so long,” she said, “but I’m happy for Brandon. He’s done well here. It’s been a good experience.


Students pray during the final commencement ceremony at their school.
Students pray during the final commencement ceremony at their school. View in photo gallery

“It’s bittersweet. We don’t know what the next year holds because until two weeks ago we didn’t know we were going to have a college graduation, so it’s going to be a little bit hectic.”

Brandon Robinson is 19 hours shy of a bachelor’s degree, so he will finish with a combination of accelerated summer classes and online study.

When Thayne Wright strode across the stage to receive his diploma, he became the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the last person to graduate from Lambuth University?”

At the end even Seymour, who emphasized celebration over sadness, couldn’t help tearing up as the faculty recessed.

But the students took his wishes to heart, bypassing the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance” recessional and opting instead to dance out as Chris Brown’s “Forever” boomed from the PA system.

They marched from the ceremony to Williams Memorial Gate. They had walked through it on their first day as freshmen, and completed the circle by walking through it one last time, chanting, “We are Lambuth!”

Lambuth’s legacy

There is still discussion of another school purchasing the campus, and many hope that at least the buildings will live on.


Members of the final graduating class of Lambuth University celebrate as they walk through Williams Memorial Gate following commencement.
Members of the final graduating class of Lambuth University celebrate as they walk through Williams Memorial Gate following commencement. View in photo gallery

“I hope they leave a legacy, especially these last few years, as a perseverant people,” said the Rev. Steven Fonville, university chaplain.

Fonville said for the past two summers, faculty and staff have gone weeks and even a few months without pay, trying to give the school an opportunity to find funding. It was not the first time Lambuth’s faculty had sacrificed on behalf of the school founded in 1843.

“During the Great Depression, our president bartered for food for his salary. He mortgaged his house to help Lambuth,” Fonville said.

“Many of the present faculty have gone without pay and banded together the best we could, and persevered as long as we could. I think if given the chance we would continue to try.”

“Lambuth’s legacy is excellence,” Joy Austin said. “This place has done nothing in vain. I teach literature, and literature is always talking about what can come out of tragedy, and it’s sometimes greatness.”

*Butler is editor of young adult content for United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Joey Butler, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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