STANDING ROOM ONLY FOR COMMENCEMENT

It was standing room only at the Show Me Center Saturday as degrees were conferred on 921 graduates of Southeast Missouri State University.

Friends and family of the graduates filled every available seat. Some found seats on the steps and in the aisles.

Others stood along the railing and walls, and still others jockeyed for the best position to take photographs of the event.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon addressed the graduating class.

"We celebrate together the accomplishments of this class," Nixon said. "A college education increases your opportunity for success in the world.

"No doubt a college degree prepares you for financial success." But success is measured in more than just dollars and cents, he said.

"The gift of a college education is much more than increasing your odds for a bigger pocketbook," Nixon said. "It increases your opportunity to make a difference."

Don Dickerson, a 1954 graduate of Southeast, serves as president of the Board of Regents. He told the graduates, "If you can graduate from this university, you can compete in any endeavor or walk of life.'

Leading the class of undergraduates were 12 students with perfect 4.0 grade point averages. Among them are Summer Majors of Cape Girardeau, LaShea Bohannon of Benton, Michelle Wiseman-Kilburn of Advance, Rhonda Ward of Fredericktown and Carisa Norrid of Campbell.

Also among the graduating class are 20 honors scholars and seven students earning academic distinction in the department of their major.

Thirty-five undergraduates graduated summa cum laude, 50 graduated magna cum laude and 97 graduated cum laude.