Celebration day

Eastern Kentucky University honored 1,116 degree candidates Saturday at its annual fall commencement.

A morning ceremony recognized graduates from the Colleges of Education, Health Sciences and Justice & Safety. The afternoon ceremony honored degree candidates from the Colleges of Arts & Sciences and Business & Technology.

Brad Loar, Mitigation Division Director for FEMA Region IV and a member of EKU's Hall of Distinguished Alumni, addressed the morning graduates and received an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

Loar has worked on the front lines in the wake of many weather-related disasters throughout the southeastern U.S.

He helps agencies, communities and citizens prepare for emergencies, offered the degree candidates several simple secrets for success.

“You need to develop relationships,” he said, “not ones to just get ahead, but ones that will help your program succeed.”

Loar also urged the degree candidates to "stay grounded in your principles, but be willing to compromise and not necessarily treat everything as a war. You’ve got to pick and choose your battles.î

He also urged the candidates to seek a mentor and be willing to step outside their "comfort zone.”

The afternoon ceremony featured remarks from Dr. Akunuri Ramayya, professor of physics at Vanderbilt University and a world leader in nuclear physics research, who received an honorary doctor of science degree.

“Life is full of difficult choices,” Ramayya told the degree candidates, “and the decisions you make now will really impact where you will be five, 10, 25 years down the road. As you enter the work force, further your education, or try to figure out what to do next, there will be several difficult choices ahead of you.”

Likewise, Ramayya said the United States must face difficult decisions regarding energy sources in the coming years.

“Nuclear reactors are being built everywhere and every year, except in the United States,” Ramayya said. “We cannot exclude nuclear energy from the equation.

“Just because something is published in newspapers, or even in scientific journals, it does not mean it is always correct,” he added. “We have to make our own choice by separating fact from fiction and hype. Knowledge and critical analysis is the best answer.”

Speaking as representatives of their graduating class in the morning and afternoon ceremonies, respectively, were Kelli Hogue, an environmental health science major from Richmond; and Ashley Hutchinson, a communications major from Ashland.

The honorees included 819 bachelor’s degree candidates, 190 master's degree candidates and 107 associate degree candidates.