The rings were given out to the seniors of fall 2015 and spring 2016, all adorned with the university’s colors,
symbol, graduating year and Roomie, The Lion.
The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
“It marks a milestone because they’re getting ready to graduate. You can’t get your ring until you apply for graduation. That means they are on that last leg of the journey, and it’s really important. You can see the excitement in the air. You see how excited they are when they are trying their rings on, showing their families and taking photos. It marks that they are starting a new life. They are almost finished with this, and they will have that degree and go out into the world.”-Director of Alumni Association Kathy Pittman
The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
“This ring symbolizes the accomplishments and the struggles I went through to get here. ”-Senior kinesiology major Blake Parr
“It represents all the hard work I’ve done to get to this stage of my life, and I’m so proud of it, so proud to be at Southeastern.
I’ve Lion’ed up everyday, and I’m never going to stop.”-Senior psychology major Angele Thibodaux
The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
Students take a pledge after receiving their new rings. The rings were distributed by
President John Crain with the help of SGA President Alexis Quackenbush and a representative
for the Balfour ring company.
The Lion’s Roar / Megan Simon
The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
“It’s very exciting. You can see the anticipation. They are very excited, they’re families. We had a really good group tonight. It’s a nice build-up to commencement. We will be doing commencement here in little over a week [December 12], so it really just starts the anticipation to build up for commencement.
I think a lot of times students don’t really always think about the impact of earning the degree when they leave the university. It’s been such a big goal. They are focused on that goal, commencement, graduation, but when they leave and go into the world, having that degree makes a huge difference, and the fact that you wear that ring with pride, people immediately know you have that degree and you’re proud of your school.”
-President John Crain