ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS — The seats in Cecilian Auditorium at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College were full Saturday afternoon, as the family and friends of 107 graduates participated in the school’s 168th commencement.
Audience members packed into the auditorium while graduates-in-waiting stood outside in the shade, as the sun made its first appearance in nearly a week for the ceremony.
Good weather or bad, Apostolos Vasileiadis, 36, said he was ready.
“It took me six years overall,” the native of northern Greece said, explaining he needed one year of study up front at Indiana State University to better learn English before transferring to St. Mary-of-the-Woods College’s Woods External Degree Program. “Everything looks good,” he said.
In Greece, Vasileiadis made and repaired roll blinds for windows. Saturday he graduated with a degree in elementary education and he plans to teach for a few years in America before returning home.
For Elizabeth Good, the St. Mary’s experience is as much a family tradition as the robe she wore for graduation.
“My grandmother first wore it in 1915 to graduate college,” Good said of the cloak now in its fourth generation of wear.
For 94 years, the robe has passed from mother to daughter to sister to cousin to niece and back, with each stitching their name inside. “Its next trip is going to Hollins University in Virginia,” she said, noting a cousin is graduating there this year.
But this wasn’t the 59-year-old’s first time wearing it in a procession. Good, who earned her masters degree in pastoral theology Saturday, wore the same robe at Skidmore College for her undergraduate degree and at Northeastern University for her MBA.
Sarah Vidal obtained her degree in elementary education and special needs education through the WED program.
“I like working with special needs kids,” the second-generation Woods graduate said, her mother and fellow alumnus Beth looking on.
And as many of the graduates prepare for a career in education, ministry or any number of the services, commencement speaker Marlene EchoHawk offered her life’s experience and advice.
EchoHawk, who graduated from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in 1953, was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters Saturday for her work advocating for behavioral health in Native American youth.
Born in Pawnee, Okla., EchoHawk is an enrolled member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe in Northern Oklahoma. Growing up, her native language was spoken in the home, but English was also spoken when necessary. She graduated high school at age 15 before going on to study at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, something she had considered “a fantasy” during her childhood experiences with the Sisters of Providence.
The financial difficulties faced by her family led her parents to move to Oklahoma City in search of work, and somehow the group managed to get her off to college, she said.
“There is no such thing as life without struggle,” she said, referring to St. Mother Theodore Guerin as a role model for her courage, drive and relentless pursuit of service.
Enrolling in 1948, EchoHawk would have graduated in 1952, but injuries sustained in a bus accident while working with Native American youth delayed her a year, she explained.
The accident might have delayed one educational attainment, but not the rest. EchoHawk explained her route from working in the biochemistry laboratory at the Veteran Affairs Hospital of Oklahoma City to her completion of a doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University in 1976.
Since then, she has dedicated her life to fighting substance abuse and mental health issues among the Native American and native Alaskan tribes. But still, a part of her belongs to St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
“I’ve never really been able to say good-bye,” she said, recalling her own classmates from the 1950s and noting she returns for visits.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
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