ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605200111
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
HOLLINS COLLEGE awarded 223 degrees to students Sunday amid a 90-degree heat wave that hit black-gowned grads hard.
Hollins College President Margaret O'Brien scanned the damp, rosy faces belonging to her final class of graduating seniors and gave them the most popular advice they received all day.
"It is a splendid day. It is a glorious day. It is also a very hot day," O'Brien observed as she gave the graduates permission to unzip and wriggle free of the black nylon gowns clinging to them like plastic wrap.
Two hundred twenty-three graduates received their diplomas Sunday morning in a ceremony on the main quad of the Hollins campus. They spent most of the two-hour commencement service flopping their programs back and forth in a feeble attempt to ward off the 90-degree heat wave which hit the Roanoke Valley this weekend. A few carried bottled water, battery-operated hand-held fans and damp cloths to dab their foreheads.
"I'm from Texas, so this wasn't too bad," quipped San Antonio native Pauline Newton, one of a handful of graduates still in her gown as the recessional music faded, smothered by the muggy air.
O'Brien, suffering from laryngitis, managed to nurse her hoarse voice through to the conclusion of the program. She was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree for her contribution to Hollins as its president.
"By the calendar, you have given Hollins five years; by the energy meter, more than a decade," said Jane Spilman, chairwoman of the board of trustees, as she presented the degree. "You have raised our expectations, given us aspirations as well as blueprints, infected us with your imagination, enhanced our national and international image, and enriched our coffers."
O'Brien announced in December that she would resign this summer to become president of St. Mary's College in Maryland. She will be succeeded by Janet Rasmussen, the vice president of academics at Nebraska Wesleyan University, who was approved by the board of trustees on Saturday.
In spite of the heat, the graduates chuckled and cheered their way through the commencement address, the product of a collaboration by two first ladies, three journalists, an actor and a comedian.
Although Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barbara Bush, Barbara Walters, Larry King, Sharon Stone and Dennis Miller didn't attend Hollins' graduation, they did contribute to the speech given by Wendy Walker Whitworth, a 1975 Hollins graduate.
Whitworth, the senior executive producer of ``Larry King Live,'' called upon some of her famous friends to suggest advice for the Hollins graduates. The results ranged from "Learn how to live in a way that does honor to those who have believed in you" from Clinton to an exhortation by Bush to "be the best possible parent." Stone reminded the graduates that "one of the most important measures of your success is the level of integrity which you maintain," adding a recommendation to "keep your legs crossed."
Whitworth's own advice was to welcome the inevitable deviations their lives will make from the plans they've already carefully mapped out.
With $40 in her pocket, the art major headed to Washington, D.C. and got a job selling shirts at Brooks Brothers after graduating 21 years ago. One of her customers was Ethel Kennedy, who hired Whitworth as a personal secretary. Part of her job involved organizing televised tennis tournaments, which inspired her at age 26 to pursue a career as a television producer.
"I walked into ABC News and announced I wanted to be a producer," she said. "They laughed, but they did offer me the chance to take a typing test. I was hired as a secretary."
Through hard work, including a span of more than 10 years at CNN without a vacation, Whitworth reached her goal.
Whitworth's story was inspiring for Arun Tintong, who grew up in a family with three brothers and two sisters in northeast Thailand.
"They couldn't send all of us to school, so they just sent my brothers, but I was very determined," she said.
At 16, she began working as an indentured servant for an aunt living in Bangkok, saving her money for school. After nearly a year, she met an official with the International Catholic Migration Commission who helped her obtain a scholarship for a private boarding school in Pennsylvania.
Tintong applied to Hollins after working as a nanny for alumna Marjory Train.
"I came here with no confidence in myself and my English," Tintong said, "but I made good bonds with my professors."
Tintong, who hopes to one day return to Thailand to promote public health care, has bumped up against another barrier. She wants to attend medical school, but financial aid is not available for international students. She will begin studies next fall at Chatham College to become a physician's assistant, but she's not giving up on her dream to become a medical doctor.
"Work really hard and focus on work. That's my philosophy too," Tintong said, paraphrasing advice from Whitworth's speech. "I think my life, too, just sort of everything fell together," she said.
The following graduates were recognized during commencement ceremonies: Meredith Patricia Hill, the valedictorian's gold Faculty Award for Academic Excellence; Dawn Clinebell Bowyer, the salutatorian's silver Faculty Award for Academic Excellence; Pauline Newton, the Jane Cock Funkhouser Award for scholarship and character; Anne Elizabeth Douglas, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for contributions to humanity; and Elizabeth Gray Baldwin Luhn, the Annie Terril Bushnell Award for leadership.
O'Brien, Whitworth and Nicholas Taubman - chief executive officer of Advance Auto Parts - received honorary degrees. The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for staff was presented to William John Wrobel, director of food and auxiliary services and director of summer programs.
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Katherine Powell keeps cool duringby CNBHollins' graduation Sunday by removing her graduation gown, fanning
herself with the commencement program and sipping water. The art
history graduate is from Chicago. color. (headshots) 2. Whitworth.
3. Tintong.