As Bridgewater College’s graduating seniors and their families celebrated on the campus mall Saturday, May 18, Virginia Supreme Court Justice William C. Mims urged the 301 graduates to remember society’s timeless virtues and to build meaningful lives.
Mims, who became a member of the court on April 9, 2010, previously served as the chief deputy attorney general under Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, and as attorney general when McDonnell resigned to pursue his gubernatorial campaign. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates (1992-1998) and Senate (1998-2006).
Mims grew up in Harrisonburg, Va., and was educated in the Harrisonburg public schools. He received a degree in history from the College of William and Mary where he also completed graduate work in public administration. He earned law degrees from George Washington University and Georgetown University.
His address, “After the Revolution,” spoke to various social and technological revolutions throughout history and asked the questions, “What comes after the revolution? What fills the vortex?” He told Bridgewater’s graduates that they, living in the midst of the Internet revolution, must come to grips with answering those questions, and that the answers can best be found in the “timeless virtues, rooted in antiquity and nurtured by this modern college.”
“Tomorrow your horizons will expand,” Mims said. “Your hopes and dreams and challenges will grow. So many things will change. But always remember that the timeless virtues apply equally to all persons at all times in all places. They are not circumstantial. They will not change. After the revolution, they will stand.”
Of the 301 members of the class of 2013, 275 received degrees today and 26 will complete degree requirements byAug. 2. Today’s graduates comprised 100 who earned bachelor of arts degrees and 175 who earned bachelor of science degrees. The college’s interim president, Roy Ferguson, conferred the degrees at the ceremony.
Eight members of the class graduated summa cum laude – the top academic honor which requires at least a 3.9 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Five graduates earned magna cum laude honors – a 3.7 or better average. Cum laude honors, requiring a 3.4 grade point average, were earned by 64 graduates.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,750 undergraduate students.
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