SMU's Commencement celebrates students' academic achievements

June 06, 2014

From the Class of 2014

Like Daughter, Like Father

Thomas and Amie Kromis When Amie Kromis walked SMU’s graduation stage a year ago to accept her degree in corporate communications and public affairs, Thomas Kromis beamed with pride. As Amie’s dad he had plenty to be proud of, but he also knew he would soon follow in her SMU footsteps.

Now it’s Amie’s turn to beam, as she prepares to watch her father graduate from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in applied physiology and sport management from the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. At 45, Thomas Kromis is also leaving the Hilltop with a minor in religious studies and invaluable memories of having attended college with his daughter.

Read the full story of Amie and Thomas.

Commencement Traditions

University Mace Commencement Weekend at SMU is a mixture of time-honored practice and modern refinements, from the custom regalia to the Rotunda Recessional. Here is a roundup of the traditions and symbols that make up the University’s 21st-century approach to these ancient ceremonies.

Feeds from #SMU2014

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings Gives Commencement Address

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU celebrated the academic accomplishments of more than 2,100 students at its 99th annual Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17, in the newly renovated Moody Coliseum.

Commencement 2014 "If we're not celebrating today, we're not living in this moment - and if we're not living in this moment, we will not succeed when we're in the depths of self-doubt," said featured Commencement speaker Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. "So live in this moment, graduates. Live in this moment, good parents.... Today, you can say you have done something very good."

"Who and what are you going to choose to love?" continued Rawlings. "It's a critical question, because it's through passionate love that we take learning and leadership and focus it and really start to make a difference in the world. You will have to make that choice yourself. But I hope you choose to love the we and not the me. I hope you choose to love the good in the world and not the gold in the world. I hope you choose to love your family - the one that's here today and the one that is coming in the future - and not fame."

[See a video of Rawlings's speech below or read the text of it.]

Elected mayor in 2011, Rawlings has created new strategies for growing the arts through the Mayor’s Business Arts Initiative, has used his visibility as mayor to organize a campaign against domestic violence and has put Dallas in the spotlight by taking a leading role with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Click here to read more about Mayor Rawlings.

During the ceremony, honorary degrees were conferred upon Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, Methodist historian Richard P. Heitzenrater and SMU law professor Joseph W. McKnight.

Diploma presentation ceremonies were held by individual schools.

The Baccalaureate Service was held May 16 in McFarlin Auditorium. Video of the speaker is available below, as well as a slide show of scenes from Baccalaureate.