Four years ago, the majority of Arkansas college and university freshmen started out attending classes remotely because of the global covid-19 pandemic.
But on Friday and Saturday, hundreds of college and university students who finished their studies four years later gathered with crowds in-person -- participating in commencement ceremonies.
On Friday, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia held spring commencement, the first under new President Trey Berry.
On Saturday, ceremonies recognized graduates of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Harding University in Searcy, John Brown University in Siloam Springs and Williams Baptist University in Walnut Ridge.
More colleges and universities will celebrate their graduations in the weeks ahead.
Remembering David Pryor
In Little Rock, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service began its commencement by remembering the school's founding dean, David Pryor, a former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator who died on April 20 at age 89.
In 2012, Pryor spoke at the Clinton School commencement, Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, the current dean, recalled.
"And in his address he challenged the graduates to return civility and bipartisanship to public service in America," she said. "Dean Pryor went on to say 'We need to build those bridges that have been torn down by fear, by hate, by distrust and suspicion.'
"Twelve years later, the need for these bridges could not be more urgent. We look at the polls, we look at what's on TV, we see what's on social media. Our social infrastructure is at an all-time low. We lack those bridges."
Clinton, for whom the school is named, spoke in a pre-recorded video message.
"You brought your diverse backgrounds from across the country and around the world here to Little Rock because you share an unshakeable belief that our common humanity is more important than our interesting differences and can be a powerful force for transformative, sustainable change," the former president said, referring to the 33 graduates.
Finding common ground
Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to then-first lady Laura Bush and leads the Legacies of America's First Ladies Initiative at American University, also touched on the divisiveness in politics today.
"The world you are inheriting and want to engage in as public servants is in some ways unrecognizable from the one I entered as a young White House staffer 40 years ago," she said, referring to her career working for a number of GOP leaders. "Back then, President [Ronald] Reagan did not see his rivals as enemies but as components of a free political system in which debates and disagreements are inevitable.
"Plus, he could tell a good joke, including poking fun at himself, knowing a light hearted response or an amusing anecdote had greater impact than a strident or bitter denunciation of an adversary. The Concept of compromise and simply sometimes letting the other guy have a win was more the rule than the exception it is today. Bipartisanship mostly rooted in taking the time to have personal relationships across party lines has largely given way to mutual distrust and political one-upmanship. But somewhere in those arguments we see playing out every day, I guarantee there is a lot of common ground."
She also referred to George Herbert Walker Bush and Clinton, once rivals for the presidency but who quickly developed a close personal relationship.
"It is one of the greatest and most inspiring examples in American politics of one time rivals becoming friends," McBride said. "That is not an example that has to be relegated to a bygone era. It is still possible when people of good will are willing to put differences aside and work together."
Mary Steenburgen, public servant
Actress Mary Steenburgen, a North Little Rock native, received the school's first-ever honorary Master in Public Service degree in recognition of her public service work in education, environmental conservation and in the arts.
Steenburgen spoke about preparing for a BBC film of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "Tender Is The Night."
"I read a lot of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I remember this phrase that he said 'Some men -- make that people -- live vaguely.'
"And I remember reading that, when I was pretty young, and thinking, I don't ever want to do that. ... I didn't want my life to be a life lived vaguely. And the difference to me between having a life lived vaguely and not, is just one word -- and it's service. It is the single biggest antidote to that."
Arkansas State University
In Jonesboro, nearly 2,500 students received their diplomas.
The featured speakers were fellow students -- Ann Long, a Distinguished Service Award winner from Jackson, Mo., who graduated with a double major in political science and history from the College of Liberal Arts and Communication, and Wilson Award winner Natan Gomez, who graduated with a degree in biotechnology from the Beck College of Sciences and Mathematics.
Both of the students echoed a chord in their speeches expressing an optimism and excitement for what happens in the next part of their lives.
"You all persevered in the face of uncertainty," Long said in her address, "and that speaks volumes about the quality of the graduating Class of 2024.
"As you go on to the next chapter of your lives, look back on your time here and remember all that you have accomplished. Think of your triumphs, big and small, and the relationships and friendships you built with your peers and A-State family that will last for a lifetime because you, now and forever, will be a Red Wolf."
Gomez, who was born in Oregon and raised in Irapuato, Mexico, told fellow graduates that he could sum up everything he was feeling Saturday with his academic research for the past four years.
"I worked with the most beautiful creation -- plants," Gomez said.
"I have learned they give more than they take. They do not produce unnecessary noise but simply grow and listen. We might not be able to produce oxygen like them, but we can certainly enrich the world around us, planting seeds of kindness and ambition wherever we go."