
WSSU celebrates class of 2014 graduation at Bowman Gray
Winston-Salem State will host commencement for the first time in the Bowman Gray Stadium at 9:45 a.m. May 16.
In previous years, commencement has been held at Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum; however this year, with WSSU's purchase of Bowman Gray Stadium, the commencement committee decided to bring the ceremony close to campus.
Letitia Wall, assistant provost for administration and planning, said there are approximately 1,600 students who qualified to be a part of commencement exercises, but only 1,000 have sent an RSVP.
"This is where people spent four to six years of their lives," Wall said.
"We thought that it would be a great tradition to leave the place where you started."
Bowman Gray Stadium seats 20,000, approximately 5,000 more than LJVM Coliseum multi-purpose area.
Keiada Holmes, senior mass communications major from Hartsville, S.C. said she is pleased with and strongly supports the changes to commencement this year.
Holmes is the president of the senior class council and one of two WSSU students on the commencement committee.
"The class of 2014 will set the legacy of graduation at our new owned stadium," Holmes said.
Last year, seniors were disappointed by the number of tickets distributed,; this year's there is no limitation on the number of guests.
In case of rain, the ceremonies will be moved to the LJVM Coliseum.
Anthony Sumter, senior marketing major from Raleigh, said he has heard some of the new changes of commencement and it should be a nice event if everything goes as planned.Each year, the Senior Class Council provides the commencement committee with a list of people they request to have speak at commencement.
The committee is comprised of faculty and students in senior class council. They go through the list and contact the individuals on the list firstly, to see how much it will cost to bring them to WSSU, Wall said.
"This year's list included names like Magic Johnson and Steve Harvey. In contacting those requests, the cost to bring them here was way out of anything we would pay for," Wall said. "So those were immediately eliminated."
Next they look for relevance and merit of each possible person, and when they decide on a person that would be a good fit, Wall said they then send the recommendations to the provost and the chancellor to be approved by them.
The speaker for commencement will be Steven Pemberton, the chief diversity officer and divisional vice president for Walgreens Inc., and he was not on the list of people the senior class council created.
"His story is one of survival in the midst of a lot of challenging situations. So we think he will be a great inspiration as our graduates prepare to go out," Wall said.
Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly
More thenewsargus News Articles
- Bennett College Loses Accreditation Despite Raising Sufficient Funds
- Smollett Investigation Continues To Be Unsolved and Difficult to Resolve
- Tea Talk w/ The News Argus: LaKeith Stevenson
- Brown administration makes history with school's first SGA inauguration
Recent thenewsargus News Articles
Discuss This Article
MOST POPULAR THENEWSARGUS

WSSU Rams Head Football Coach Relieved of His Duties By Elijah Richardson

Bennett College Loses Accreditation Despite Raising Sufficient Funds By Elijah Richardson

Smollett Investigation Continues To Be Unsolved and Difficult to Resolve By Elijah Richardson

Lady Rams look to reverse an abysmal 2014-2015 season By Demetrius Dillard
GET TOP STORIES DELIVERED WEEKLY
LATEST THENEWSARGUS
- Black Business
- WSSU Rams Head Football Coach Relieved of His Duties
- Controversial Wake Forest Tweet Sparks Outrage
- Bennett College Loses Accreditation Despite Raising Sufficient Funds
- Smollett Investigation Continues To Be Unsolved and Difficult to Resolve
- UREC Looks To Continue and Improve Student Engagement Through Physical...
- University Recreation To Hold Personal Training Pilot Study
FOLLOW OUR NEWSPAPER
RECENT THENEWSARGUS CLASSIFIEDS
OUTSIDE THE LINES
- Getting Your Car Ready for Summer Road Trips
- U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Earns MBA While Deployed—With A...
- Don’t Let Your Dog Become a Statistic: Protect Postal W...
- Stay Connected to Internet & TV During Your Move
- Breathe Easy: Now Is a Great Time to Clean Your HVAC System
- Think You Know What Dad Wants For Father’s Day? A New S...
- Think You Know What Dad Wants For Father’s Day? A New S...
- Six Park Personality Types: Which One Are You?
- Real Educational Advantages of Artificial Intelligence
- A Virtual Second Opinion Can Be A First-Rate Option
FROM AROUND THE WEB
- On the Golf Course, You Really Have Skin in the Game
- BookTrib’s Bites: Chill Out with These Four Scorching S...
- Alliantgroup’s CEO on the Rise of Robotics: Why Human E...
- Things to Do in Plano, TX This Summer 2025
- 5 Tips to Flip Your Home from Drab to Fab
- BookTrib’s Bites: Four Refreshing Summer Reads
- Powering America’s Future: The Case for Solar Energy
- Battery Energy Storage: Powering America’s Reliable, A...
- Eden's NAD⁺ Program Sparks New Conversations on Aging a...
- This Summer, Don’t Let Dehydration Ruin Your Workout
COLLEGE PRESS RELEASES
- $1 Billion in College Tuition Saved Through Sophia Learning
- DoSomething and General Motors Team Up for Safe Summer Season Campaign to Promote Road Safety for Young Drivers Amid Rising Traffic Fatalities
- The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Announces Study Abroad Grant Recipients
- New Survey Shows College Students Overestimate Their Career Readiness
- GradGuard Launches $15,000 Scholarship Program to Promote Financial Awareness