It was a moment that they will never forget. After four years of homework assignments, studying for exams and making countless college memories, approximately 450 Maroons walked across the stage on May 5 to receive their Roanoke College degree.

Despite anticipated showers, the ceremony was held on the John Turbyfill Quad.

Dr. Kenneth P. Ruscio, president of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, was this year’s commencement speaker while Rev. Christopher Bowen spoke at the Roanoke College Baccalaureate inside the Cregger Center Arena on May 4.

“I predict that never in your life will you grow as much as an individual yet feel so much a part of a community as you did here,” Dr. Ruscio said. “You have learned that your personal well-being is inevitably intertwined with the condition of those around you. It is simply better to live in places where people care about each other than in ones where they care only for themselves.”

The Class of 2018 has two valedictorians – Hannah Bear of Mechanicsville, Maryland, and Megan O’Neill of Thurmont, Maryland – and one salutatorian in Maggie Fitzgerald, a Massachusetts native.

“We, each of us, have the opportunity to become a giant upon whose shoulders another individual can stand,” Bear said during the ceremony. “We can provide the foundation where others can grow, reach further than before and see farther than we have seen.”

Shannon Dishaw said she was both sad and excited about graduation day.

“As I sat there listening to the speeches, I did not know what was going to come next,” Dishaw, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Health and Sciences, said. “I chose Roanoke College for the academics. I loved how small the class sizes were and how you could form a close relationship with your professors and classmates. Now that I am a college graduate, I plan on taking some time for myself before looking for a job working with the geriatric population.”

Many people helped Karla Williams throughout her college career – and most of them were present to see her walk across the stage and receive her college degree.

“Even though I’m the youngest, I am blessed to be a part of a family with five college graduates. My parents got their degrees while raising their children which is something I am still in awe of as I think about my college journey,” Williams, a Newport News, Virginia, native, said. “I have built many lifelong friendships with so many people at Roanoke College. This was the only school I applied to. I trusted in God, and it all worked out.”

Emily Comer is the first person in her family to earn a college degree. The Business Administration major from Covington, Virginia, plans on furthering her education by pursuing a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

“I was always a really dedicated student in high school, and it paid off – I graduated as the salutatorian of my class. In college, I came with the same dedicated approach,” Comer said. “I put a lot of time and effort into my studies to ensure I would get the best education possible, which also paid off, allowing me to graduate cum laude.”

In addition to participating in the conferring of degrees to the graduates, President Michael Maxey also honored this year’s Roanoke College Honorary Degree recipients – Brenda Hale, an eight-term president of the Roanoke Branch of the NAACP, and Dr. Kenneth Ruscio.

All Marcus Stewart could think about on graduation day was the journey he went through to be able to walk across the stage.

“It was difficult adjusting to college during freshman year because everything was so new. Once I made the transition though, I started to really make tremendous strides,” he said. “Wherever I go in life, I will always have Roanoke College in my heart.”

Courtesy of the Public Relations Department, here are some additional facts on the Roanoke College Class of 2018:

• The 450 graduates come from 34 states and ten countries (12 if counting the U.S. and the Virgin Islands).
• The top five majors of the class of 2018 are Business Administration, Health and Exercise Science, Communication Studies, Psychology, and Biology.
• Degrees awarded: 224 Bachelor of Arts; 146 Bachelor of Science; 80 Bachelor of Business Administration.

·There is one married couple and one set of twins among the graduates. One graduate, Haley Moe, is the college’s first graduate from North Dakota.