Lynchburg College graduates 551

Overcast skies and a breeze kept things cool for graduates and attendees at Lynchburg College’s 106th commencement Saturday.

Five hundred fifty-one students graduated Saturday, 442 from undergraduate programs and 109 with graduate degrees.

Lynchburg College President Kenneth Garren, in his remarks, praised students present and past, speaking of those who carry “the mark of the hornet.”

“I think one may best understand the essence of this beloved college by knowing something about the people who have walked through the depth of the institution — people I describe as having the mark of the hornet,” he said, referencing LC’s mascot. He listed honesty, integrity, intelligence, care for others and a positive outlook among their attributes.

“But in addition and above all,” Garren said, “those with the mark of the hornet ask themselves one question: How will I use my talents and a fantastic education I have gained at Lynchburg College in ways that help others?”

Garren introduced the guest speaker, Randi Alper Pupkin, who graduated from Lynchburg College in 1984.

Pupkin originally went into the legal field, receiving her Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore School of law.

After leaving that profession, Pupkin founded Baltimore-based Art With a Heart, which provides artistic activities and classes to disadvantaged children and families.

Pupkin’s message centered around the way dreams and goals change over time, and she exhorted students not to be afraid of those changes.

“Some of you know exactly what is next, while others may not have a plan at all,” Pupkin said. “I am here to tell you both paths are just fine.”

Pupkin said she’d followed the same “master plan” since early childhood.

“As a child of the civil rights movement, by the time I was 6, I wanted to change the world and decided to do this by becoming a lawyer,” she said.

But the sobering reality hit, she said, that she was not going to accomplish the change she had dreamed of through the legal profession.

“I realized that Atticus Finch wasn’t my destiny,” she said, referring to the trial lawyer from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” adding,  “I was increasingly feeling unsure and restless.”

But some words from Thomas Edison, she said, applied perfectly to her situation: “Restlessness is discontent, and discontent is the first necessity of progress.”

So, she said, she started Art With a Heart, in order to reach out to people who couldn’t afford art classes or activities.

Initially on a shoestring budget of $6,000 a year, Pupkin said the organization has grown to a $500,000-a-year operation.

Pupkin was honored in 2008 by The Daily Record, a newspaper in Baltimore, as one of Maryland’s top 100 women.

“Ultimately, I gave up my master plan and followed my heart for a new dream,” she said, assuring students that there’s no shame in changing direction.

“Come up with a plan that’s right for you, but more importantly, have the courage to change that plan if it isn’t taking you where you want to go,” she said, adding “There is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.”