Commencement

Shawna Morton ’20 delivered remarks to graduates and families at the in-person Class of 2020 commencement celebration on Saturday, May 22. Watch video of the remarks above. The text, as prepared for delivery, is below. Good morning, I am so happy to be here at Transylvania with all of you again. I have been reflecting on what this place and what this education has meant to me since the abrupt ending to our college careers. Through my own lens as a religion major, I have been constantly reminded of the concept of rites of passage and liminal space. In 1908, Arnold Van Gennep coined the term “liminality” or “liminal space.” Part of the definition very much pertains to this occasion. Gennep’s analysis explains the desire for celebration after a change of status for an individual or social group, or transitions in the passage of time. In doing so, he placed a particular emphasis on rites of passage, and claimed that “such rituals marking, helping, or celebrating individual or collective passages through the cycle of life or of nature exist in every culture.” In order for the right of passage to be complete, we must pass through the “liminal space,” or the space in between. When Gennep refers to this middle stage he “implies an actual passing through the threshold that marks the boundary between two phases, and the term ‘liminality.’” Those passing through the space do not have a specific

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