FANFARE, FUN MARK FINAL FOR ’82 GRADS
By Mary Hoenk
L-J Staff Writer
May 26, 1982

Wet weather washed Lawrence High School’s graduation ceremony inside Allen Fieldhouse Tuesday night, but the rain didn’t appear to dampen the spirits of the Class of 1982.  Amid cheers, whistles and a few firecrackers, 541 black-robed students filed onto the stage as seniors and then walked off as graduates in the school’s 108th commencement.

It was the second time in nine years that rain moved the ceremonies from Kansas University’s Memorial Stadium to the fieldhouse – something that understandably disappointed some seniors.

“I just always looked forward to graduating in the stadium,” said graduate Maria Swall.

But the Graduates were glad to be indoors and dry as rain beat on the roof – and a few who attended the ceremony watched the southern sky for tornadoes.

An estimated 3,000 parents, relatives and friends gathered for the final tribute to the graduates, who took their seats on the fieldhouse floor.

Some wore jeans and tennis shoes under their robes.  Two graduates carried roses during the ceremony, and one graduate was garbed in a white tuxedo for the event.

Decorum prevailed until the last minute, when graduates threw their mortarboards into the air with a cheer on the last bar of the last song, “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The commencement program itself was serious as traditional music and graduation messages set the mood.

Graduate Scott Paschall, selected to address his classmates, told seniors that they were becoming an elite group of Lawrence High School graduates.

He called the group “an exceptional class,” listing some of its accomplishments in the fields of academics, athletics, music, art and science.

After completing 13 years of public education, graduates should follow the advise of Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, Paschall urged.

“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,” he said. “. . . Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”  Paschall said those two attributes “are the key to achieving our goals”. In addition to the achievements, he said, the seniors have had a lot of good times working together as a class – including senior prank day.

“You know, we’re even good at being bad,” Paschall joked.  The comment met with a round of wild hots and cheers.

In reference to the night’s graduation parties awaiting seniors, Pashcall encouraged parents to look back on their own high school graduation and “understand when we assay ‘see you tomorrow sometime.’”

Lawrence Wu, president of the senior class, told his classmates that this was ”the best class LHS has ever graduated.” “We’ve had 26 semesters of battle but the campaign for commencement is over and we have won,” he said.

He said the graduates, however, still face the biggest battle of all in helping sustain humanity – “the battle of life for life.”  He said graduates should remember that parents and teachers have been their greatest allies.

And, altering a passage from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Wu said, “The LHS Class of 1982 shall not graduate in vain but have a new birth of freedom.”

After the commencement speakers, LHS principal Brad Tate announced the seven valedictorians for the class of 1982, which he said was a record number.  The seven maintained perfect 4.0 grade point averages during their high school careers. They are: Karen Boring, Christine Cheng, Anna Creese, Chris Hersh, Scott Sehon, Ann Simpson and Lawrence Wu.

Wu also announced the class choice for Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year.  Ray Wilbur, LHS mathematics teacher, won the award this year and received a standing ovation from the class of 1982.  Wilbur, who also on the award for the 1975-76 school year, has been teaching at LHS for 18 years.

To chants of “Wu, Wu, Wu,” senior class president Wu received the top award given by the student body to graduation seniors, the LHS Citizenship Award.

Jump page 14 headline:
Rain forces ceremony inside
’82 GRADS BID FAREWELL TO LHS