MSSU honors graduates and alumni in special ceremony
JOPLIN, Mo. — Today’s a big day for several hundred students at Missouri Southern.
More specifically – 523 total students – representing three academic colleges of the university.
They will now officially be recognized as alumni.
Two different graduation ceremonies were held inside the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center throughout the day.
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For several students, this is a bittersweet graduation, since they finished high school in 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic.
2020 Carl Junction graduate Ashley Dean is one of those students.
She was named the 2024 spring semester Outstanding Graduate for MSSU.
Dean says she’s glad to be spending her special occasion with loved ones.
“It was definitely different in 2020 – because we were all spaced out and it wasn’t as tight of a community whenever we were graduating — because of the social distancing. So, it’s really nice to be able to come together and do this,” said Ashley Dean, named MSSU 2024 Spring Semester Outstanding Graduate.
“One of the joys serving as president here is the ability to get to know some of the students on a very personal level. And so, in a lot of cases, I know their stories, I know their successes here and their next steps – and that’s inspiring,” said Dr. Dean Van Galen, MSSU President.
Also recognized at this morning’s ceremony was 34 members of the university’s Golden Graduates group.
They all graduated from Southern either in 1974 – or before then.
We spoke with a 1973 graduate – who majored in sociology.
Here’s his advice for all graduates.
“Just follow your heart and don’t listen to somebody that says ‘no, I don’t think you can do that’. You’re probably gonna get knocked down two or three or four times, but hey, that’s part of the game — and go from there, learn from it, and enjoy it and just kind of keep a smile on your face and keep marching forward. You can’t look back,” said Ed Pachlhofer, 1973 MSSU graduate.
Pachlhofer says he also enjoys witnessing the wide range of emotions graduates express during their special moments of life.
