ABINGTON, Pa. — Penn State Abington awarded almost 400 academic degrees at its summer/fall commencement on Friday, Dec. 15.
The Abington College Choir and Chamber Singers opened the ceremony with the old Southern gospel song "I'll Fly Away," which inspired the remarks by Chancellor Damian J. Fernandez. He encouraged the new graduates to aim high, but to prepare for the journey first.
"Take a pause, step back, seek firm ground, allow gravity to pull you inward, look to your past, find a person, someone who can be source of gravitas for you now and into the future. Identify that individual who will serve as a guide for you, a human compass, as you start your journey beyond Abington," Fernandez said.
" ... And when you are ready to take flight, and as you rise, reach out to others, give them a hand, pull them up them along the way, you can — they will not drag you down. On the contrary, only through them will you reach higher ground, only by lifting them will you transcend."