Glendale Campus Graduation Traditions

Yesterday, the MWU Glendale Campus Classes of 2007 graduated at an impressive ceremony held at the Maricopa County Events Center. Approximately 6,000 family and friends saw their loved ones from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Pharmacy-Glendale, and College of Health Sciences walk across the stage to be congratulated on their accomplishment.

Like our Downers Grove graduations, the Glendale ceremony has its own traditions. Since our first graduation in Glendale in 2000, we have always held joint ceremonies with multiple colleges. Our Glendale Campus has always been home to multiple degree programs, so we have held true to our belief in the health care team concept by hosting joint graduations. While this makes the ceremony much larger--and somewhat longer--I personally think it makes a statement about the training our students receive and our focus on health care education. So, the graduates were able to celebrate with their classmates while also showing their respect for their colleagues in the other two colleges.

Like in Downers, Dr. G opens the ceremony by recounting the special traditions of each class and their accomplishments on campus. For example, this year's graduating AZCOM class was instrumental in having the faculty wear head-mounted microphones during their lectures, so everyone in class could hear every word. The CPG students were actively involved in working with diabetes programming. The CHS students helped with many campus service projects, like Cuts for Kids and volunteering with seniors groups. Dr. G also tallied the number of children born to each college during their time at MWU. AZCOM led the way with 23, followed by CPG with 20 and CHS with 7 and one more on the way "any moment now!" To be clear, both men and women can have children during professional school and still survive. I personally can't imagine how difficult it would be to study, go to class, and complete rotations with a newborn at home, but many of our students are able to do it. It also reflects the true "family" spirit of the MWU community.

On a very sad yet poignant note, Dr. G also recognized the families of two students who would have been members of this graduating class but who both died tragically in accidents. Biomedical Sciences student Brad Johnson died around the winter holidays last year, while Bioethics student Ann McQuarrie passed away just a few weeks ago. Brad's mother and two brothers came to the ceremony as well as Ann's husband and two daughters. Dr. G presented both families with a beautifully framed honorary diploma and spoke movingly about the preciousness of life. These families were so brave and clearly so proud that their loved ones would always be part of the MWU family. It was a reminder to all of us that life is something to be cherished every day, and that we all should make sure we tell our family that we love them every day.

After well over 400 degrees were conferred and diplomas presented, the ceremony ended with the traditional recessional out of the auditorium. At that time, another Glendale tradition took place--the military commissioning ceremony. I think there were nearly 40 students in all of our colleges who became commissioned officers in the U.S. military branches. While we also have a fair number of military students in Downers Grove, we seem to have quite a few more in Glendale, perhaps because of the proximity of Luke Air Force Base. The military students and local representatives organized an impressive ceremony, where family members "pinned" the new officers in their dress white uniforms. These students are now off to complete their residencies in military programs and to serve their country for the next several years. We are very proud of their commitment and they represent us very proudly in return.

Congratulations to the Class of 2007 at Midwestern University!