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Former Ambassador Gives Keynote as Mars Hill Graduates 64
James Cain, former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, encouraged Mars Hill graduates on Friday evening to remember and cherish the American spirit as they set out on their own journeys in life.
“Americans share a history of seeking to improve our lot, always challenging boundaries, employing an entrepreneurial zeal to make things better,” Cain said. “It’s that deep seated yearning for entrepreneurship, for embracing change, for taking risk, for celebrating those who do take risks, that is in our blood. Some people call this ‘American Exceptionalism’. … I call it the ‘American Spirit’.”
Cain was the keynote speaker for Mars Hill’s winter graduation ceremonies, Friday evening, December 14 in Moore Auditorium. Mars Hill College bestowed bachelor’s degrees on sixty-four August and December graduates. The most common majors were education, business and social work.
As a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Cain said he has traveled to many countries of the world, and he has formed a habit of asking people what the word “America” means to them. The responses, Cain said, provide profound insight, and give clues to “what much of the world admires, sometimes secretly, by the way, about America, even as they claim to detest our politics, or our foreign policy, or our attitude towards climate change or even our addiction to fatty foods,” he said.
Cain cited a conversation with students in Denmark who told him that America was the “Land of Opportunity.” “’In America’, they said, ‘you can dream anything you want to dream, and you can be anything you want to be. And if you fail, you can pick yourself up and start again.’”
Cain encouraged the graduates to reflect on America’s national character, which prizes risk and self-reliance. Such a “go ahead” spirit is what led mountaineers in western North Carolina in 1856 to found the institution that would one day be Mars Hill College, Cain said.
The world needs the American spirit to live on, Cain said. “Remember and cherish within your heart that Spirit we all inherited from our forefathers and foremothers who built this land into a nation of dreamers and dreams that others can only wish for. Live that spirit in your life, pass it on to your students and to your children; that their lives, and those of their children, may be more enriched, more fulfilled, than our own.”
Student speakers for the graduation were Michael Holcombe, a social work major from Mars Hill, NC, and Nanette Marie Wallin, an elementary education major in the Adult and Graduate Studies program from Marshall, NC. The Invocation was given by Lee Revis, a theatre arts major from Mars Hill, NC.
Special music for the graduation was provided by the Mars Hill College Department of Music Men’s Quartet, including: Brett Pardue, a junior music major from Elkin, NC; Dalton Woody, a sophomore music major from Burnsville, NC; Scott Hale, choir assistant; and Dr. Joel Reed, professor of music.
(below, left) Michael Holcombe receives his degree from MHC President Dan Lunsford; (below, right) Steve Parrish receives his degree from President Lunsford
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August and December Graduates:
La Mirada CA: Troy Donald Chavez
Lakewood CO: Isaiah Asad Schafer
Jacksonville FL: Khalid Umar Abdullah
Lake Alfred FL: Dallas Cleveland Johnson
Lithia FL: Wadeana Michelle Dickey
Tampa FL: Nathanael Paden Baxley
Alto GA: JaShawn Dennis Anderson
Gainesville GA: Tavious Pierre Banks
Fishers IN: Tyler James Reboulet
Asheville NC: Taylor Leigh Hepler, Amy N. Moore-Pope, Jonathan Matthew Simpkins, Mary Noth Walker
Bakersville NC: Joseph Anthony Hoilman, Ashley Nicole Johnson
Burnsville NC: Emily Lorraine Wells
Charlotte NC: Douglas Olen Yarbrough
Fletcher NC: Tammy Freeman Garavaglia, Jessica Lee Green, Jennifer Ann Hecht, Phelisa R. Underwood
Franklin NC: Tierra Nicole Coleman
Hayesville NC: Nichole Marie Brown
Hendersonville NC: Hope Dillon, Virginia Schell Fox, Katherine Sara Patito
Hickory NC: Corey Joseph Durben
Horse Shoe NC: Jessica Gabriel Fuentes
Leicester NC: Savannah McCorkle, Leslie Black West
Liberty NC: Stephanie Nichole Hargis
Maggie Valley NC: Baylee Victoria Thurman
Mars Hill NC: Shannon Riddle Hensley, Michael Lindsey Holcombe, Darrell Eugene Lunsford, Kenneth Greg Parks, Lee Carl Revis, Matthew Elliot Starling, Tiffani Page Taffer,
Marshall NC: Sherry F. Cantrell, Nanette Marie Wallin
Matthews NC: Sarah Elizabeth Bowlin
Middleburg NC: Shiloh Cindy Alexis Kusnierz-Rowe
Morganton NC: Sandra Renee Pruette
Newland NC: Allison Brooke Vance
Raleigh NC: Zachary Robert Leeman
Sanford NC: Catherine Elizabeth Strunks
Spruce Pine NC: Anthony Joseph Bomar
Weaverville NC: Tara R. Edwards, Lauren Elizabeth Gelette, Susan Bernice Houston. Colleen Joan Nersesian, Steven Wayne Parrish
Oswego NY: Brian William Dowdle
Glenville PA: Dylan Christopher Price
York PA: Tyler Lee Wilcox
Duncan SC: Kendra Brooke Reeder
Townville SC: Nathan Todd Watson
Dallas TX: Clarence Earl Abraham
Danville VA: Narcissa Grayson
McLean VA: Jaime Albert Botello
Braganca Paulista Brazil: Jacqueline Magalhaes Rouquet
Zheng Zhou, Henan, China: Yuan Dong
Santiago, Chile: Juan O. Kromschroder