Emeritus

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On Mother's Day, I participated in the UAF graduation ceremony at the Carlson Center. I was told to be there around 12:30 and that they would have appropriate academic regalia waiting for me. Since I wasn't faculty, the assumption was that I wouldn't have such stuff lying around. They are correct. They had us line up between the group heading for the podium and the PhD students and their advisors. Before heading in, there was a dance group from Tanacross. They are the ones pictured in this photo.

They had us wait at the door after the podium group (university regents, university president, UAF chancellor, vice-chancellor, college deans, etc.) I think that it was kind of interesting seeing them up there as I have known many of them for years when they were in other entry level positions and, in a couple of cases, students. A couple of the faculty came up to me in the waiting room and commented that it didn't seem that long ago when we were the new kids on the block. We were seated in the front row.

This is at the end of the 3 1/2 hour program. I had missed pulling my phone out when most of the blue/gold balloons came out of the ceiling. Near the beginning of the ceremony, they called up the Emeriti present to present us with a certificate declaring that. I'm told that it is rare to have staff Emeriti as it normally reserved for the academic side of the house. While sitting in the airport, I ran into one of the former university staff governance presidents, and he mentioned that staff emeritus is a relatively new thing as he was involved with it's implementation.

After the ceremony, the faculty were let out first and they lined the corridors to cheer their now ex-students. Not having participated in my university graduation (I opted to ride my bicycle to Baja), this was my only university graduation experience. Kind of cool. 

This is Libby, she was the other staff Emeriti for this year and had retired last year as the Registrar. I've known her a long time through a variety of positions within admissions and records and it was great to see her again. They is now traveling around the country in their RV but returned just for the ceremony. I think the only purpose of the blue/gold sash was to have something besides the basic black robe. We both opted to dispense with the mortarboard. 

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