Central College awarded 232 graduates from 21 states with bachelor’s degrees during its Commencement ceremony Saturday, May 13.
Commencement is a memorable event, and the Class of 2023 ceremony will be remembered for being interrupted twice by tornado warnings. Joel Brummel, Central chaplain, fittingly summarized the ceremony during the benediction sharing “in the storms of life, may God always give you protection and may you have peace and perseverance.”
Central granted Heather Burr Isaacson, Class of 1997 and Commencement 2023 speaker, the Honorary Doctor of Public Service honoris causa degree. She then shared moments from her Central journey, which included Upward Bound and serving as a tutor-counselor with the program.
Isaacson also was a member of Student Senate and later, vice president and a Campus Activities Board member. She was active in the theatre program and completed an off-campus experience in London.
She graduated with a degree in sociology and minors in communication studies and theatre. Isaacson currently serves as the program director for By Degrees Foundation, which supports K-12th grade students to graduate on time and prepare for post-secondary education.
In her speech, Isaacson encouraged graduates saying, “We must collectively choose to deconstruct systems that do not allow all people to thrive. We must collectively come together and strengthen systems that do. We all do better when we all do better.”
The ceremony was livestreamed and can be viewed on the Central Dutch Network.
