Processionals, gonfalons and the “Imperial March.” The revelry of past University of Tennessee at Chattanooga commencements was back.
For the first time since 2019, commencement at UTC was held without the restrictions of COVID-19 and McKenzie Arena renovations. Three ceremonies were held over two days starting Friday, May 3, with more than 1,300 undergraduates and nearly 300 graduate students presented for degrees.
Click here for a Flickr gallery of commencement photos.
All three ceremonies began with the march of the gonfalons—ceremonial banners originating from Western European culture and the Roman Empire—representing the academic colleges that make up the University. The student members of the Chancellor’s Ambassadors carried them down the center aisle of the McKenzie Arena floor and to the stage.
Senior Braden Stillwell, a sociology major from Etowah, Tennessee, hoisted the purple gonfalon representing the UTC Honors College.
“I’ve heard they haven’t been able to do this in a couple of years since before COVID,” Stillwell said. “It’s really awesome to bring this tradition back and add another awesome thing to the graduation ceremony that’s about to happen.
“I’m excited. I hope I don’t fall.”
Yancy Freeman Jr. receives a hug from his father, UT Martin Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr. Photo by Angela Foster.
The Graduate School ceremony took place on Friday, May 3. Among the proud parents in attendance was UT Martin Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr., formerly the longtime UTC vice chancellor for enrollment management and student affairs.
He and his wife, Rafielle, made a quick trip to campus to watch their son, Yancy Freeman Jr.—a UTC admissions counselor for the greater Chattanooga area—cross the stage as the recipient of a Master of Public Health degree.
“Congratulations to the UTC spring 2024 graduates, especially my son and legacy, Yancy E. Freeman Jr. The world is waiting for your greatness. Go Mocs!” Freeman Sr. said.
Following the ceremony, Freeman Sr. made the 300-mile drive back to Martin for that university’s Saturday commencement.
“I knew it was going to be a struggle for him to get here,” Freeman Jr. said. “The fact that my family and friends took the time out of their day to come and support me really makes me feel loved.”
Freeman Jr. previously received a bachelor’s degree in exercise and health sciences from the University in 2020—right after the pandemic started. Commencement that spring was held virtually.
“I was really let down when we couldn’t have graduation; I understood the circumstances, but it still was not fun,” he said. “So I knew in getting another degree through UTC, I had to do it bigger and better.
“Today is really exciting. It’s fulfilling. It feels like I’m doing this for both of my degrees.”
Dr. Kenyon Wilson, brandishing a miniature lightsaber, directs the “Imperial March.”
Undergraduate ceremonies took place on Saturday, May 4, known as Star Wars Day—as in “May the fourth be with you.”
The platform party began its procession toward the stage to the tune of John Williams’ iconic “Imperial March,” presented by the UTC Brass Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Kenyon Wilson, head of the Department of Music and professor of applied tuba.
Wilson said he initially pitched the “Imperial March” idea to Dr. Jerold Hale, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.
“He’s like, ‘I need to run it up to the Chancellor,’” Wilson said.
Wilson admits he expected the response to be “No.”
“Everyone was like, ‘He’s never going to go for it,’” he said. “But then I got the fastest approval I’ve ever gotten from the Chancellor. I took off and ran it.”
Wilson replaced the introduction to the traditional graduation song, “Pomp and Circumstance,” with the first 10 bars of “The Imperial March.”
Not only did the crowds erupt in applause when they heard the song, but the band had fun, too.
“This is the first commencement since the pandemic that we’ve had the full ensemble,” Wilson said. “It was a total of six people in the ensemble. Now I’m up to 14, which is the original group.
“They’re loving being back together and they’re loving the joviality of the whole thing. It’s fun, and the crowd did not disappoint.”
Following her remarks to UTC students of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business and the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies at the May 4 afternoon undergraduate commencement, Student Government Association President Chamyra Teasley took a selfie with the graduates.
Among the UTC students celebrated during Commencement Week:
- UTC Global Response Assistantship scholarship recipients Nina Klimenkova and Arsen Martyshchuk received master’s degrees. Before they said goodbye to UTC, the two reflected on their journey from Ukraine and their time in Chattanooga.
- Triple major and Brock Scholar Jannat Saeed received bachelor’s degrees in history, humanities: international studies and software systems.
- Nehemiah Antoine, a chemistry major and Innovations in Honors member, recently discussed his career path toward medicinal chemistry research.
- Emma Sprayberry, a highly decorated student who recently landed a Fulbright Scholarship to Taiwan, received bachelor’s degrees in humanities: international studies and Spanish.
- At 20 years old, Madison Cothern was one of the younger graduates participating in commencement ceremonies. Despite her age, her list of accomplishments does not reflect a lack of experience—as she graduated with about 186 credit hours.
- Entrepreneurship major Mitchell Hibbs, an Innovations in Honors member, spent his college years in the UTC Honors College alongside his twin sister, Meaghan. Meaghan Hibbs, a Brock Scholar, has already finished her degree in international studies; after adding a major in trumpet performance, she will graduate in December.
- Members of the UTC occupational therapy doctoral program, including Mckenna Menard and Raven Smith, spent the spring semester participating in capstone projects throughout the Chattanooga area.
Graduate Caroline Dale and her father, Jay. Photo by Lane Gutridge.
Another graduating student, Caroline Dale, was singled out during the Saturday morning ceremony.
Jay Dale, the immediate past president of the UTC Alumni Board of Directors, was one of the platform party members who provided remarks. It gave him an opportunity to welcome UTC’s newest graduates to the alumni process.
It also afforded him the chance to recognize his youngest daughter, Caroline, the recipient of a bachelor’s degree in communication.
He joked before the ceremony began that he was able to embarrass his oldest daughter, Emma, at the December 2022 commencement, “and I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to embarrass my youngest daughter, too.”
After sharing his family’s UTC story to the audience (he met his wife, Cynthia, when both were UTC students and their daughters went to the University), it was time to go 2-for-2 as a proud dad.
“The timing works out such that exactly 30 years (after receiving his bachelor’s degree in finance), you get to have this moment where you get to embarrass your youngest daughter, Caroline, who is graduating today.
“Every father has to embarrass their child. This is my last chance to do that at school,” he said. “So Caroline Dale, if you’ll please stand.”
The crowd applauded. Mission accomplished.
This was the 263rd overall commencement for the University, founded in 1886 as the then-private Chattanooga University. The first UTC graduation ceremony took place on Aug. 23, 1969, at the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Chattanooga.
Learn More
Spring 2024 Flickr gallery of commencement photos
Chancellor’s Ambassadors Braden Stillwell, left, and Joy David carried gonfalons as part of the UTC commencement processional during all three ceremonies.
