Fall 2024 graduates recognized at Grady College Convocation

Students cross the stage during Convocation.
Nearly 150 Grady College students were elegible for Fall 2024 Convocation, which was held Dec. 12, 2024, at Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. (Photos: Sarah E. Freeman)

Fall 2024 graduates recognized at Grady College Convocation

December 13, 2024

Fall 2024 Grady College graduates were celebrated by family, friends, faculty and staff at Grady College’s Convocation ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, at the UGA Performing Arts Center. 

Nearly 150 graduate and undergraduate students are graduated from the College this semester including two Ph.D. students, nine master’s students, more than 40 advertising students, roughly 20 from the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies, nearly 35 journalism students and more than 30 majoring in public relations. 

Before introducing the senior speaker, Dean Charles Davis welcomed everyone to the ceremony with a message of thanks to parents, family and friends and congratulations to all of the graduates. 

“No one graduating today would be here if not for the families and friends who have brought them thus far,” said Davis. “And to you students, my congratulations for all that you have accomplished. I’m in awe of your tenacity, your grit, your ability to roll with the punches and keep going – every one of you has my lasting respect and admiration.”

Following Dean Davis, senior speaker Saylor Williams, a journalism major with a minor in film studies, gave a talk that drew on the fact that life is not always perfect like in a television series.

Senior Speaker Saylor Williams’ talk drew parallels to a television series. “Now all of the storylines have run their courses and the characters sit in this room together for one last time before the final curtain call,” Williams said.

“If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that a perfect ending doesn’t always exist. Nothing is certain and things don’t always work out. We have to accept the imperfect clutter and disorder of life and live it to the best of our ability,” Williams said in her talk.

She concluded by reminding the audience of the challenges in life while invoking a quote from the late comedian Gilda Radner: “So, as you all take your next steps in life, accept that there isn’t always a perfect ending, “that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment, and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”

Pictures from Fall 2024 Grady College Convocation can be found in the following UGAGrady Flickr albums: 

Pictures from the Graduation Celebration are also available to view on our Flickr account.

Video of the Grady College Convocation can be viewed below or on the UGAGrady YouTube page. Williams’ talk begins at the 3:00 mark.

Author: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu