SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah State University (SSU) held its 185th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, December 13 in Tiger Arena where 14 student-athletes earned their college degree.
Former softball starter and English major Rachel White, a summa cum laude honors (4.0 GPA) graduate, delivered a reflection on behalf of the graduating class that focused on her time spent as both a student and an athlete at Savannah State.
“There were instances when things never seemed to go my way on the field and while writing my papers, the words just would not seem to come out right,” White said to an estimated 250 graduates. “There were times when I was so discouraged. I’m sure all of the graduates here today can agree with me that at some point in our collegiate careers we sat and wondered “Can I really do this?”
As human beings, in challenging times our bodies naturally react the same way and we give ourselves two options: fight or flight. We can either run from the situation, for fear that we may never succeed, or stay and push through the adversity that seeks to discourage us. Lucky us, because at Savannah State, we are constantly reminded that “We are Rising” and that “We can get anywhere from here.””
Joining White in receiving their degrees with honors were seven other student-athletes. Eric Ricks a former baseball player, graduated summa cum laude (Civil Engineering Tech), while tennis player Andrea Pavlovic graduated magna cum laude (Accounting).
Track star Felton Chinn walked with cum laude honors (Management). Men’s basketball player Angelo Davis also graduated with cum laude honors (Management), and women’s basketball player, and Savannah native, Charmaine Greene walked with cum laude honors (Biology).
Representing the football program, Antonio Proctor was conferred a degree in History, Jonathan Clowers graduated with a degree in Homeland Security, Simon Heyward earned a degree in Behavior Analysis, and former player and now student manager Julian Washington received his degree in Mathematics.
Women’s basketball player Shawanda Hanton received her degree in Mass Communications, while teammate Jasmine Kirkland earned her degree in Biology. Men’s basketball was represented by Patrick Hendley (History) and Stephen Wilson (Mass Communications).
Giving the commencement speech was alumna Alissa Johnson, Ph.D ’96, the deputy chief information officer for the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Johnson oversees White House information technology and interfaces with multiple staff and private contractors to create a stable and flexible technology infrastructure.
Prior to working at the White House, she was a cryptologic engineer with the US Department of Defense and deputy chief technology officer with Lockheed Martin. Johnson was recently named to the Top Forty Over 40 and the 2014 Federal 100.