Wright Thompson Calls for Empathy, Understanding at Commencement

Much of the Class of 2024 entered higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic after having their high school graduation ceremonies canceled. On a crisp, sunny morning in the Grove, however, they got the full graduation experience, surrounded by family, friends and loved ones who supported them along the way.

"Today represents the culmination of years of hard work and persistence," Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. "It's a special time marked by love and support from families, friends, faculty and others.

"We're especially honored to celebrate this milestone achievement that you will cherish for the rest of your life because for many members of our Class of 2024 and their loved ones, today's celebration might be the first time they got to experience a graduation ceremony in person, and we are so very, very proud that you could be here."

Among the more than 5,000 graduates were pharmacists, writers, artists, chemists, veterans, cancer survivors and a multitude of others. Whatever path led them here, they are all a part of Ole Miss now, Boyce said.

Acclaimed author, writer and reporter Wright Thompson gave the Commencement address to a crowd of nearly 10,000 graduates, friends and family members.

Thompson described his speech as, "completely unsolicited advice," but his words were more a love letter to Ole Miss and the state that houses her, to the prospect of growth as the future comes knocking and to the kindness that he hopes to see in the world.

Between quips about etiquette on the historic Oxford Square, Thompson urged students to value empathy, compassion and a willingness to serve others.

"Be competitive with yourself; be gracious with others," he said. "There's plenty of success to go around."

Empathy is an endangered part of today's society, and the only way to fix that is to practice it ourselves, he cautioned.

"We are as a culture truly in danger of losing our ability to connect," he said. "Walk in someone else's shoes. Be super suspicious of people who know everything about anything."

The author also encouraged students who love Mississippi to stay here and help the state grow to be better and stronger.

"Find your own Mississippi, love it and teach other people how to love it," he said. "Mississippi needs you; it needs all of you. And it needs your best."

Thompson's message of empathy resonated with students such as Hayley Phillip, a Charleston, South Carolina, native who received her degree in integrated marketing communications on Saturday.

"Hearing him talk about how we needed to care about each other, it really made me feel like I have a purpose here," said Phillip, who has been accepted into a master's program at Northwest University in Washington. "I had never been to Mississippi when I came here, but now I don't want to leave. I'll be back"

Anna Morris and Julianne McCullough, two best friends who grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended Ole Miss together, agreed. Although they plan to return to their hometown after graduation, they vowed to return to the Grove.

I had never been to Mississippi when I came here, but now I don't want to leave. I'll be back"

"There are so many memories here," McCullough said. "Ole Miss is going to be a big part of our lives, probably for the rest of our lives."

Like many students celebrating their first graduation, Gray Phillips said walking the stage this week has been important for him and his family.

"I didn't get to graduate my senior year because of COVID," said the public policy leadership major from Hattiesburg. "This was my first commencement, and it means a lot. It's a big moment for me."

For the family of Sydni Davis, a Tupelo native who earned her degree in African American studies and hopes to get her master's at the University of Texas, graduation was overwhelming. Not only was her high school graduation interrupted by the pandemic, but her sister's college graduation from Ole Miss was too.

"We have been waiting for today for so long," said Carolyn Davis, who stood with her daughters Sydni and Leah and her husband, Willie. "We were robbed of both of their graduations four years ago, but we're here today."

Sydni followed her older sister to Ole Miss, but her journey was her own. She became the Associated Student Body's acting attorney general and vice president of Mortar Board. She created the only student-organized museum exhibit on campus, and she was the first Mississippian to win the Fannie Lou Hamer Scholarship.

"I came here as her little sister," she said, gesturing to Leah. "But I'm leaving as my own person, and I've accomplished things I would never have thought I would."

Before Thompson left the stage Saturday, he indulged in one last moment with the students.

"I have only one question for you guys," he said. "You're all college grads, you have your future stretched out ahead of you. Are you ready?"

With a raucous "Hotty Toddy" that rattled the air of the Grove, the graduating Class of 2024 answered in a way only Ole Miss could.

To view the university's 2024 Convocation ceremony, click here.

See more photos from the university's 171st Commencement