No graduation ceremony, no speech
UA grads miss out on Ben Rector’s spring commencement message
FAYETTEVILLE — The postponement of most college graduation ceremonies this spring also cut off commencement speeches, the at times stirring orations that — if not too long, anyway — add welcomed words of wisdom to a festive day.
Music star Ben Rector had been set to speak to new graduates of the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business.
It would have been the first commencement speech for Rector, a UA graduate who has gone on to become a chart-topping singer and songwriter.
“I graduated during the 2009 financial crisis, so while I don’t know exactly what they’re going through, my friends and I also went out into the real world at a very uncertain time,” Rector said in a statement when asked if he had a message for spring grads. “I think I’d tell them that I’ve found that working hard and being kind and honest go a long way no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.”
The musician, now based in Nashville, a couple of years ago played a memorable show in Fayetteville as part of the student-organized Chancellor’s Ball, said Jared Pinkerton, UA’s student body president for the 2019-20 school year and a graduating senior.
“There were so many people you couldn’t get in,” Pinkerton, who is earning a bachelor of science degree in business administration from UA’s Walton College, said in a text message.
Pinkerton said he had “no doubt” that a commencement speech by Rector would have been a “significant highlight” for his classmates.
“I really hate that we missed out on that,” Pinkerton said.
Commencement had been set for today and Saturday for undergraduate and graduate students at UA. Spring graduates are invited to attend a December commencement ceremony.
John Thomas, a UA spokesman, in an email said, “While not confirmed, the college is hopeful” that Rector can speak to graduates “if there are individual ceremonies this December or as an alternative in May 2021.”
Rector said he was honored to be invited by UA to give the talk and is “always looking to come back to Fayetteville.” He said he’d “love to” be a speaker at a future UA ceremony.
UA, the state’s largest public university, holds separate spring ceremonies with different speakers for its various colleges. This spring, there are about 4,830 students earning a degree of some kind, according to the university.
The All-University commencement, when graduate students have their time in the spotlight, had been set to have as its speaker businesswoman Cordia Harrington, Thomas said.
Harrington, a 1976 UA graduate, is the founder and chief executive officer of The Bakery Cos., which is based in Nashville. She has won various awards, including the 2016 Lifetime Achievement award for Most Admired CEOs by the Nashville Business Journal.
Thomas said Harrington will now speak at UA’s December commencement.