University News Commencement UNC Pembroke celebrated 670 graduates on May 4-5 I n two commencement ceremonies on May 4-5, speakers invoked history, both recent and long past, to challenge and counsel graduates. In the two events, the university celebrated the achievements of 670 graduates and its own 125-year history. On Friday, May 4, 144 students received their master’s degree hoods from the School of Graduate Studies in the Givens Performing Arts Center. On May 5, 526 undergraduates accepted their diplomas on the Quad. On Saturday morning, graduates streamed across campus and over the bridge onto the Quad. Chancellor Carter explained the significance of the procession and set the tone for a historic celebration. “Two years ago, we started a new tradition of having our freshman walk north across the bridge. Today, our graduates walk south to commencement,” Chancellor Carter said. “They walked through a gauntlet of their professors, who supported them along the way. “It is natural that we gather here today in the shadow of Old Main, our oldest building and a lasting symbol of the university’s perseverance,” he continued. “You are lucky to be here on this historic moment as the university celebrates its 125th anniversary. “As you leave us, think about Old Main and the 20,000 students who have gone before you; and think about the founders whose vision and persistence established this university.” Smithsonian’s Kevin Gover 6 UNCP Today , Spring years Chancellor Carter said he wanted a commencement speaker worthy of the moment, and he believes he found one in Kevin Gover, executive director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He is a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. “I am a big fan of ritual and ceremony,” Gover told the graduates. “This is the way people express their values; this is how we say we respect what you have accomplished.” Gover, a former law professor and top Bureau of Indian Affairs official, said he is impressed with the story of UNCP’s founding as a college for American Indians. “I am also impressed with your intention to become the leading institution of the study of southeastern American Indians,” he said. To make a point about the challenges facing the graduates, Gover returned to 1492, “the moment the entire world changed,” he said. “You should know that in 1491, American civilizations were already thousands of years old. At first contact, there were as many people living in the Americas as in Europe.” Disease decimated 90 percent of that population in “the greatest calamity in the world’s history.” But the story of America’s indigenous people did not end in 1492, Gover said. Like UNCP’s history, the story of the First People is one of perseverance and ultimately triumph. 1492 was not the end; it was the cradle of the creation of the most successful and diverse society the world has known. “You are heirs of ancient civilizations, and you face steep challenges in a future where we have reached the limits of the Spring 2012