The spring 2022 commencement ceremonies for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater May 14 celebrated the accomplishments of its graduates for the first time since 2019.
The morning ceremony recognized 713 undergraduate students and 134 graduate students from the College of Arts and Communication and the College of Business and Economics. The afternoon ceremony recognized 504 undergraduate students and 117 graduate students from the College of Education and Professional Studies and from the College of Letters and Sciences.
In addition, a ceremony on May 15 honored 2020 and 2021 graduates. A graduation ceremony for University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Rock County was held on May 17.
Included among the graduates May 14 were 11 international students, 97 veterans, 194 self-identified students with disabilities will receive degrees, 200 nontraditional undergraduate students 25 years of age or older, and two graduates of the LIFE Program for young adults between the ages of 18-25 who have an intellectual disability.
In welcoming the gathering in the Kachel Fieldhouse, Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Robin Fox said, “I’m humbled to lead a university community that has come together in the face of extraordinary circumstances. Our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have been adapted, persevered, and showed how deeply they cared for one another.”
“Never forget the inspiring and courageous ways in which so many of you responded over the last two years,” she added.
Since 2019, a “Native Lands Recognition Statement” has been included in the commencement ceremony. Kenny Yarbrough, Associate Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Support Programs, read the statement, including “For thousands of years, this region and these lands were home to diverse native peoples. We acknowledge that the land upon which the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater now exists was and remains the historic and traditional territory of many native peoples.”
This year’s commencement speaker for the UWW ceremonies was Kevin Newell, who earned a BBA in general management in 2007 and an MBA in 2009.
As founder and CEO of Royal Capital Group, a venture and holding company with a focus on urban development and innovation, he became the first African American to build and own a multifamily commercial development in downtown Milwaukee and the first to partner with an NBA team – the Milwaukee Bucks – to develop a commercial entertainment district.
In developing his commencement address, Newell admitted to following the advice of a friend: “Be good. Be brief. Be gone.”
As a UWW student attending a team-building retreat that included setting a “10-year stretch goal,” Newell offered as his professional goal becoming a millionaire in 10 years, much to the laughter of the other students in his group. “They were right,” Newell said, “I didn’t become a millionaire in 10 years. I did it in seven.”
As a pledge for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Newell remembers hearing Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If,” and the impact it made on him.
Newell pulled two basic ideas from that poem for the UWW Class of 2022.
One was the idea of self-trust. Citing the poem, Newell said, “Trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too,” adding, “This is your journey, trust yourself, and move ahead.”
A second idea from “If” Newell offered was the notion of “wait and not be tired by waiting.”
“I want you all to be patient with yourself on your own personal journey,” he said.
Newell share his experiences as a first grader at Phillis Wheatley Elementary School in Milwaukee, “located in one of the most disenfranchised parts of the city, with the highest black incarceration rate in the nation, where you’re more likely to go to prison than to graduate from high school.”
At the end of first grade he was asked not to return to the school.
Although the school was closed in 2004 and remained empty, Newell’s firm bought the school and the entire block, and has partnered for the development of apartments offering affordable housing, a restored gym, a juice bar, a commercial kitchen for small businesses, after school programming, and even information on financial literacy.
“Yes, I come from the school of hard knocks,” Newell admitted. “Yes, I went through trials and tribulations. Yes, it was an uphill battle. Yes, you could say I got a raw deal. But none of our paths are linear, meaning straight line. It’s important for us to stick it out, though.”
In conclusion, Newell stated, “You all are a group of people and leaders that we are depending on. We’re not depending on you all to create the next technology. We’re not depending on you all to commercialize going to outer space. We’re actually depending on you all for your unique ability, for your generation’s unique ability to unite.”
