Spring 2025 graduates celebrated at Grady College Convocation

Graduates shake the hands of faculty members as they cross the convocation stage.
Grady College Convocation was held May 7, 2025, at the Athens Classic Center Grand Hall. More than 525 students graduated from Grady College this semester. (Photo/Sarah E. Freeman)

Spring 2025 graduates celebrated at Grady College Convocation

May 09, 2025

Spring 2025 Grady College graduates were celebrated by family, friends, faculty and staff at Grady College’s Convocation ceremony on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at the Athens Classic Center Grand Hall. 

More than 525 graduate and undergraduate students graduated from Grady College this semester including two Ph.D. students, nearly 100 master’s students, more than 100 advertising students, almost 90 students from the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies, more than 110 journalism students and more than 120 students majoring in public relations. 

The ceremony was hosted by Jonathan Peters, head of the Department of Journalism, since Dean Charles Davis was not able to attend due to an injury.

Peters applauded the students on producing award-winning campaigns, reporting for the Associated Press through the written word and photographs, and producing and directing films, among other accolades. He even acknowledged the thousands of hot dogs eaten at Dawgs with the Dean.

“Graduates, we admire your creative spirit and determination, and the kindness that you have shown along the way” Peters said.

De'Ondre Harris smiles as he stands behind a podium.
De’Ondre Harris was the senior speaker and talked about how Grady College is the heartbeat of campus, where hot dogs are grilled by deans who know students by name. (Photo/Lauren A. Pike)

Following Peters, senior speaker De’Ondre Harris, a journalism major also pursuing a degree in public relations through the Double Dawgs program, shared the way many graduates took different paths to lead to the same outcome.

“Whether you started here as a wide-eyed freshman or transferred in like me, Grady became our home,” Harris said. “It’s where we learned how to chase stories, speak truth, edit until our eyes burned, and of course, where we heard Cantrell yell “Wide! Medium! Tight! Tight! Tight!”—over and over again,” he added, referring to Professor Dodie Cantrell-Bickley, his instructor for the capstone Grady Newsource course.

He continued, “But, more than the skills and the syllabi, Grady gave us something deeper—it gave us family. It gave us the people who would cheer us on, share a snack in the PAF, commiserate over deadlines, and give the best hallway waves—looking at you, Dean Davis.” 

View the slide show above and view complete photo albums from Spring 2025 Grady College Convocation can be found in the following UGAGrady Flickr albums: 

Video of the Grady College Convocation can be viewed below or on the UGAGrady YouTube page. Harris’ talk begins at the 5:00 mark.

Author: Sarah E. Freeman