Dad, daughter don cap, gown

Hunter Hollar missed out on his University of Virginia graduation ceremony in 1971 because the National Guard called him up for basic training during the Vietnam War.

Thirty-seven years later, Hollar — an economics major at UVa who is now chairman and CEO of a Maryland bank — finally got his shot to participate in the university’s commencement.

Clad in a black cap and gown, Hollar sat among a sea of some 6,000 graduating UVa students that filled the Lawn in front of Old Cabell Hall.

In the seat next to him was his graduating daughter, Maureen Hollar, who was receiving diplomas from UVa in psychology and economics.

“It’s awesome,” Maureen Hollar said. “I grew up idolizing him as a University of Virginia grad. Because of him, I’d wanted to go here since I was in eighth grade. It was pretty special to share this day with him.”

Up on stage, former Cornell University President Hunter R. Rawlings III delivered the commencement address.

Rawlings told the crowd of 35,000 that Thomas Jefferson’s vision for the University of Virginia — that is, to equip young men and women with the knowledge to understand and improve society — is as relevant today as it was in the early days of the university.

“In today’s multi-purpose, decentralized university, it’s easy to lose sight of Jefferson’s ideals or to see them as dated or dead,” Rawlings said. “Jefferson’s ideals still have plenty of life left in them.”

Jefferson wanted UVa students to obtain a broad-based education that would allow them to navigate the issues of the day and serve the public, said Rawlings, a visiting professor at UVa who taught a course this semester about the influence of the classics on America’s founders. The education that the students received at UVa, he said, would help them navigate the “assault of information” in the Internet age.

Rawlings pointed out a Greek inscription carved onto the façade of Old Cabell Hall. It translates to “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” Such advice, he said, is a fitting comment on UVa’s Class of 2008.

“The truth is what you graduates will now find,” he said. “I wish you godspeed in finding it.”

Meanwhile, in the section reserved for graduates of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Hunter Hollar sat alongside his daughter and reflected on his own long-ago years at UVa.

The university’s commencement of 1971, he realized, would not have included women like his daughter, as UVa did not accept women until the following year. It would also have been a significantly more intimate affair, as the class of ’71 was a fraction of the size of the class of ’08.

“Just the massiveness of the event today was amazing to me,” he said. “It’s much bigger than it would have been in my day.”

While at UVa, both the younger and elder Hollars attended courses taught by the same economics professor, Kenneth Elzinga.

“Today was an interesting day for me,” Hunter Hollar said. “I’d never done that walk down the Lawn. I’d never had the chance to sit among the graduating students.”

Back up at the podium, Allen B. Rider III, chairman of the university’s Alumni Association Board of Managers, welcomed the thousands of graduates into the ranks of UVa’s 190,000 alumni.

“We have been fortunate to pursue our academic endeavors in this community of honor and academic excellence,” Rider told the crowd. “Remember, wherever you might travel or live or whatever language you might speak, ‘Wahoo-wa’ is recognized as a special phrase with a special meaning about a special place.”

It was a festive atmosphere in and around UVa on Sunday. Many of the bars located on the Corner opened at 7:30 a.m. A clapboard sign advertised “cheap bloody marys and mimosas for that last walk.” More than a few grads smoked cigars and drank cocktails at tables on University Avenue.

In one section at the ceremony, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration graduate James Mitchell wore a lei made of $2 bills — featuring Thomas Jefferson, naturally — that were folded origami-style into crinkly flowers. A friend made it for him as a graduation gift.

“It’s very impressive,” he said. “It’s very artsy-crafty.”

For Jason Grace, a history major from Big Stone Gap, Sunday’s ceremony marked a bittersweet end to his time at UVa.

“My time at UVa was an invaluable period of growth for me,” he said. “The university is such a wonderful place to spend four years. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it anywhere else.”