Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 17, 1993 TAG: 9305170133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"The cards are in your hand and you've got to show them. You've got to get a job," Cosby told the 1,850 cheering graduates.
Students also collected diplomas at Virginia State University, Randolph-Macon Woman's College and Norfolk State University.
"The beauty of what's happening today is that your parents have proof that you're educated," Cosby said. "The question is, do you have good sense?"
Cosby told graduates they must not stoop to deriding others. "From dignity comes respect, automatically. From dignity comes honesty and awareness," he said.
The Williamsburg school is celebrating the 300th anniversary of its charter this year.
In Lynchburg, the 150 graduates at Randolph-Macon Woman's College heard a speech from Virginia Hill Worden, president of a New York homeless relief agency.
"Life is shaping up to be an improvisational affair," said Worden, class of 1969 and member of the college's board of trustees.
"Randolph-Macon prepared me well to undertake the opportunities that came my way. Come back here when you can, you'll find that you're greatly missed."
Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., told the 491 graduates at Virginia State University in Ettrick that they can make a difference in the world.
"You have the responsibility, the obligation, to become actively involved in correcting the problems of society. Each and every one of you can and must make a difference," he said.
The 850 Norfolk State University graduates heard a speech by Mary Sue Terry, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee. Terry, a former state attorney general, told the graduates their university had held fast to its responsibilities as an urban university. She used the school's recent development of doctoral programs in physics and other sciences as examples of this.
"Its success . . . in implementing programs designed to address the severe shortage of minority scientists demonstrates this university's commitment to challenge the status quo and to move beyond limiting expectations," she said.
Students also accepted diplomas Saturday at Liberty University, Virginia Wesleyan University, Emory & Henry College and Christendom College.
by CNB