TACOMA — There were plenty of signs that it was a Greener graduation Friday.
There was the high-spirited processional led by the Artesian Rumble Arkestra, with songs such as “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “This Little Light of Mine.”
There were attention-grabbing outfits and decorated mortar boards and a big crowd filled with beaming parents, spouses, kids, friends and other family members.
And then there were signs that it was definitely not a typical graduation ceremony for The Evergreen State College. Bag checks. Metal detectors. Security guards. Those were heightened measures prompted by concerns over keeping people safe during a spring that has been nothing close to normal.
The college decided 10 days earlier to move commencement from Red Square at the Olympia campus to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. About 1,000 students participated in the ceremony, and it cost about $100,000 to rent the stadium, officials say.
“The last few weeks have tested us. The discussions and debates we’ve had were at times fierce and disturbing,” college president George Bridges said. “But while the mission of our college is to teach and learn across differences, its higher calling is to make the world a better place.
“Serious debate and discourse on issues like racism, freedom of expression, and inequity are vitally important to our world,” he said. “We cannot shy away from them, nor should we. They are issues we face and struggle with as a nation.”
Korrena Poe, 32, of Tacoma graduated with a bachelor of arts with a focus in inequality and journalism. She said she thinks the national media coverage of the college’s racial tension was “a little blown out of proportion and kind of out of context.”
Graduation speakers talked about the recent protests, threats and student unrest at Evergreen that have pushed the school into the spotlight, and put it at the center of debates over racism, academia and freedom of speech.
“No one should see this graduation as a return to normalcy to the way things were before,” said faculty member Anne Fischel, who teaches nonfiction media production, media theory and community studies. “For one thing, the lives of some of our community members have been threatened, and they can’t be here today.”
Student Kadazia Allen-Perry talked about her experience as a student of color, coming to Evergreen where she had her first black instructor, and befriending a diverse group of classmates.
She compared that with her experience at a different college, where she attended for a year. She said the pressure there was so high, she tried to take her own life.
“But here I am alive, alive and truly happy,” said Allen-Perry, who graduated with a bachelor of arts degree with a focus on visual arts and communications.
