Farewell, and welcome: Class of 2007 graduates
This May, 144 students at the UF College of Education graduated in the college's baccalaureate commencement. Many will return in Fall to complete master's degrees under the Proteach program.
This May, 144 College of Education seniors walked across the stage, grabbed their diplomas and become official college graduates. Most of these new Gator alums turned their tassels and turned right back to Norman Hall – to complete their master’s degrees through the ProTeach program.
It’s the perfect metaphor for the teacher’s life. You always finish the assignment, but you never stop learning.
In accordance with new UF policy, the College of Education held a commencement just for bachelor’s degree recipients at the Phillips Center for Performing Arts at the end of Spring semester. Many of those new graduates also attended UF’s graduate commencement in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, where 238 COE students were awarded master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees.
Elizabeth Van Ella, a College of Education alumna and CEO of the firm VanElla, Inc., delivered the
keynote address at the COE Spring 2007 baccalaureate commencement.
Lifelong learning was a theme at both ceremonies. UF President Bernie Machen and COE Dean Catherine Emihovich honored five of the state’s elite K-12 teachers and administrators with UF Distinguished Educator Awards.
College of Education alumna and corporate CEO Elizabeth Van Ella addressed the senior graduates. Formerly a classroom teacher, world-traveling scholar and television reporter, Van Ella took over the investigative firm VanElla, Inc. after her husband died in 1991. Since then, the company has seen a five-fold increase in profits and has become a leader in the field of employee background checks.
In her speech, Van Ella attributed her success to the lifelong-learner attitude she acquired at the College of Education. She urged students never to back down from a challenge. “If I feared change, I would not be standing before you today, because my life would have stalled in a safer mode,” she said.
Jolande Morgan, who was honored with the 2007 Undergraduate Leadership Award at COE's Spring 2007 Commencement, proudly displays the award after the ceremony.
UF alumna Jane Myers – a leading expert on counseling and wellness issues for older people and professor of counselor education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro – took the stage to be honored with the college’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
University of South Florida Professor of Education Susan Homan was presented the COE Alumna Achievement Award for her work in early intervention for struggling readers.
Dean Emihovich also presented several graduating students with awards honoring their public service and research.
If you missed the events in May, you can see the video on the Internet. Go to https://education.ufl.eduhttps://education.ufl.edu/news/2006/10/16/ihe-gets-16-million-grant-help-community-colleges-improve-data-use7 for links to the video.
