Theater professor Deborah Jordan relishes her role of precisely announcing graduates’ names at Jacksonville University’s commencement ceremonies.
Some names can be tricky to articulate; others, not so much.
Calling out “Ian Jordan Chaille” at JU’s 2016 spring commencement Saturday was a piece of cake for Jordan — except for the lump it put in her throat.
Chaille is Jordan’s son.
“This is always the happiest day of the year, but today is really, really extra special,” Jordan said. “Ian worked very, very hard and overcame a lot to get to this day.”
Chaille, 25, has Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder characterized by difficulty with social interaction and nonverbal communication.
Walking across the stage Saturday capped a journey that lasted much longer than Chaille’s seven years in college.
“When I was a kid, I knew I wanted to come here because my mother was a professor here … and I fought really hard in high school to get here,” he said after getting congratulatory hugs from his mother and others following the ceremony.
“Now that I’ve finally made it through, I’m feeling really great,” he said.
Chaille studied computer animation and has a graphic arts position with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.
His advice to others who face obstacles as they pursue their dreams?
“Just don’t stop,” he said. “I’ve had some down times … but the fact of the matter is that the only person who was going to fix the problem was myself. I don’t give up.”
Mayor Lenny Curry offered similar advice in his commencement address at the outdoor ceremony on JU’s Science Green.
He encouraged the graduates to adopt his YOLO — “you only live once” — approach to life.
“You only get to do this thing called life once. There are no do-overs,” the mayor told the 884 graduates.
Curry, who took office 10 months ago, encouraged the graduates to follow their passions, even in the face of criticism.
And even if it means abruptly changing career paths.
“People will try to define you, tell you where you should go and what you should do,” he said. “Reject them.”
To illustrate his point, Curry said determination enabled him to leave a six-figure salary to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams and later run for mayor. His company, ICX Group, is a leading accounting and finance consultancy.
“I’ll admit … going from CPA to mayor is an unlikely path,” he said. “If I had listened to my critics, pessimists, those who cared for me and even my own circumstances, I would not be standing on this stage today. I had to fight and continue to fight for my dreams.”
Among the new JU graduates who took a nontraditional path in pursuit of his dreams is Grant Gibson, 67, recipient of the school’s first President’s Award for Outstanding Leadership for Graduate Students.
An attorney for 41 years, Gibson added a JU master’s of public policy degree to his portfolio. He already has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s of business administration from New York University, and a law degree from Fordham University.
Gibson received the award because of his efforts, which are continuing with a capstone research project, to revitalize the Arlington community.
“Grant not only is a special student, he’s demonstrating extraordinary leadership,” Rick Mullaney, JU’s Public Policy Institute director, said Saturday. “I think his research project is going to have a tremendous impact on the future of Arlington and this city.”
Gibson said his return to college coincided with his wife, Marie, enrolling three years ago at Florida Coastal School of Law. She graduates this month.
“I really needed something to keep me active and to keep my mind fresh, and what could be better than to be among a lot of university students?” he said.
Gibson said his public policy studies and involvement in efforts to improve a blighted area of town have been transformational in more ways than one.
“What this program has permitted me to do is help the Arlington community, which is now my passion,” he said. “But the profound and interesting thing is that in the process, it has renewed me.”
President Tim Cost said the new graduates have left a legacy at the riverside university that, like the community around it, is amid a transformation.
“You have excelled and, even more than that, you leave your university having helped make it far better than the one you entered,” he said.
The commencement marked the first time the university awarded master’s degrees in speech language pathology and reading education.
Several other awards also were presented:
• Fred B. Noble Gold Medal for Scholarship to the graduating students with the highest cumulative grade point average (4.0): Allison Kathleen McClain of Jacksonville and Jia-Siang “Ben” Leong of Malaysia
• President’s Award for Outstanding Leadership for Undergraduates: Sable Alexandra Lee of Oviedo
• University Award for Outstanding Service and Co-Curricular Involvement: William Ellis Harr of Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Professor of the Year: Colleen Wilson, department chair and associate professor of education in the School of Education.
At Saturday’s ceremony, the flags of the graduates’ home countries — 20, in all — flew on the stage. JU has more than 26,000 alumni from all 50 states and 92 countries.