Class of 2025 graduates arrive at ‘a day to celebrate’

Kara Harvey’s time at Radford University hasn’t been a total fairy tale. 

“I’ve had some lows along with the highs,” she confessed.

“But I’ve found my family here, and the relationships I’ve established with people in my major, in my sorority and with my professors have been wonderful,” Harvey said Saturday morning, waiting in line with nearly 1,400 others who were moments away from walking toward Moffett Lawn to receive undergraduate degrees at Radford University’s 2025 Spring Commencement. 

“The people I’ve met here have been amazing,” said the criminal justice and sociology double major from Bedford, Virginia.

“Today, it feels like my happily ever after has finally come true.”

Soon after commencement ceremonies began, Radford University President Bret Danilowicz welcomed the Class of 2025, saying, “Today is your day, a day to celebrate everything you have accomplished. Each of you had arrived at this moment through your determination, your resilience and your growth.”

Addressing the graduates and the large collection of families and friends who had gathered for the ceremony, Danilowicz highlighted a number of “powerful stories,” he said, including the first cohort of the Southwest Virginia Teacher Apprenticeship Consortium, a class of six students who were selected to work as educators in school districts throughout the region during the spring semester.

“This innovative, first-of-its-kind program exemplifies what it means to serve your community with purpose and preparation,” the president said before reading the names of the six students in the cohort. Before the ceremony, two of those students – Sherri Blair and Lianna Dillon – expressed their gratitude for being accepted into the program and the experience it gave them.

“We got a wonderful chance to be in schools every day and every week, and it’s been a great experience for us,” said Dillon, of Wytheville, Virginia. 

Danilowicz also spoke about graduating senior Sam Williams, who came to Radford “with a passion for cybersecurity and elevated it into his mission,” he said, while noting that Williams had started his own cybersecurity business.

The president recognized Brandon Williams and Donald Tinsley, a father-son duo who enrolled at Radford to study respiratory therapy, deciding to “change their lives together.’

“Today, they will cross this stage together, both as proud graduates of Radford University,” Danilowicz said. “They demonstrate that no matter where you start, it’s the journey, including who you take it with, that can lead to extraordinary outcomes.”

Danilowicz honored student-athletes who have “shown what it means to be relentless, balancing full academic schedules with the demands of NCAA Division I competition.” Fifty-nine student athletes graduated Saturday, the president said, “proving that excellence on the field and in the classroom can go hand-in-hand.”

The president also acknowledged his son, Cullen Danilowicz, who was among those graduating. “With a bit of presidential privilege, I just want to say directly to him: Cullen, I’m so proud of you and I love you. Congratulations, son.” 

“Oh, his son is graduating,” someone in the audience said excitedly as the crowd cheered.

Alumnus Kwabena Osei-Sarpong ’05 delivered Saturday’s keynote address. The CEO of RIFE International gave an inspiring address that emphasized gratitude, resilience and the enduring power of a Radford education.

"Twenty years ago, I sat where you are today, excited, hopeful but unsure about what was ahead," Osei-Sarpong said. "Today, standing here with you, I feel the same, except now I have a few more scars, a little more wisdom and a lot of gratitude. This might be the most surreal moment of my journey, a full-circle moment that I wouldn't have imagined would have come so soon."

The Ghana native encouraged the new graduates to “go out there and show them the Radford spirit.”

Before degrees were conferred, the university recognized its ROTC program and its two newly commissioned officers, U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Gavin Blackwell of Gap Mills, West Virginia, and 2nd Lt. Madeline Sarver of Christiansburg, Virginia. On stage, both took the oath of office from Lt. Col. Daniel Harrison. A little more than 24 hours earlier, on May 9, Blackwell and Sarver received their commissions at a ceremony in the Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center auditorium. 

The commissioning was one of many commencement-related ceremonies on the schedule that Friday.

Among those was the evening Graduation and Hooding ceremony at the Dedmon Center for students of the College of Graduate Studies. Osei-Sarpong delivered the keynote, where 317 new graduates received their advanced degrees.

One of those was Wiley Kirk, a special education teacher at Marion Senior High School in Smyth County, Virginia. 

“Radford has given me a lot of insight into my current role as a special education teacher,” he said before the ceremony. “A lot of the skills and knowledge I have learned from learning counseling and related concepts have helped transform the way that I interact with students.”

Kirk, who has been teaching and driving a bus route during his 2 ½ years in the counselor education program, said getting the opportunity “to learn and grow as counselors with my cohort has been such a great experience.

“I will also miss the amazing professors that I have had the opportunity to learn from,” he continued. “Dr. [Nadine] Hartig, Dr. [Bethany] Lanier and Dr. [Elizabeth] Shuler are nothing less than incredible educators who have found the perfect balance of being personable and effective teachers. They have provided great insight and have helped me learn skills that I will use for the rest of my life.”

Earlier that day, the Honors College recognized 46 graduates with a medallion ceremony in the performance hall of the Douglas and Beatrice Covington Center for Visual and Performing Arts. Many of those were named Highlander Honors Scholars, which is Radford’s highest academic designation for undergraduates who complete a 27-credit hour curriculum and a capstone project while also achieving a 3.5 GPA or greater.

One hundred and forty-eight graduates of Radford’s School of Nursing took to the stage a couple of hours later to receive their pins from friends and family at an afternoon ceremony in Bondurant Auditorium. 

The nursing Class of 2025 “has weathered the ever-changing landscape of nursing and nursing education, and they survived,” said College of Nursing Dean Wendy Downey. “These graduates are still standing, are still strong, and we are so very proud of them.”

The pinning ceremony is a tradition dating back to Florence Nightingale and is a badge of distinction awarded to nursing graduates at numerous schools, including those who complete programs in Radford’s College of Nursing.

Also, on Friday, Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) students received white coats and pins at a ceremony at the City Market Building in Roanoke, Virginia. Students received their white coats and were pinned by family members and loved ones. 

The university’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion held a Multicultural Celebration Friday night with about 25 students attending and receiving stolls. 

Among those receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees at commencement, the majority, 1,231, came from towns and cities in Virginia. Graduates also represented North Carolina (21), Maryland (19), West Virginia (10), New York (8), South Carolina (8), Washington, D.C., (6), Florida (6) and Pennsylvania (5). 

International graduates came from Brazil, Ghana, Burundi, China, Ethiopia, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Serbia and Sierra Leone. 

The youngest graduate was 18, and the oldest was 66. The top four majors were nursing, with 148 majors, followed by management (81), criminal justice (79) and psychology (73).

The Class of 2025 included 259 first-generation college students, including Harvey, who noted that the distinction is “something that really means a lot to me.”