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A UMNS Report
By Joey Butler*
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 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.
“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.
“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.
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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