Thousands of relatives and friends packed McDaniel College May 20 to cheer as the College awarded 208 master’s degrees and 370 bachelor’s degrees at the College’s 136th Commencement.

Commencement opened as the graduates marched through Memorial Plaza as Old Main bell rang loud and clear. Since 1991, seniors have passed by the bell, now mounted on a brick pedestal, for the ceremony that signals the closing chapter in their academic lives. As first-year students, they each rang the same bell to symbolize the beginning of their college career.

Then, with family, friends and faculty applauding, students processed to Gill Center. Joining the recipients in cap and gown were Nora Roberts, author of more than 140 novels, and Jane Bryant Quinn, author of the best-selling books “Making the Most of Your Money” and “Everyone's Money Book.” They each received an honorary degree.

“The adventure you’re about to start is wide-open to possibilities,” Roberts told the graduates and their guests. “Grab one and see where it takes you. What you do will, in small ways and large ways, change the world.”

Quinn told the students there is frequently no quick road to success, but rather a wave of ups and downs that they must ride, buffered by a liberal arts education that has taught them how to learn – the skill they will need most.

“I hope your work will make you glad,” Quinn said. “If it doesn’t, you’ll turn to those learning skills again, and change. There’s not just one chance in life. You get many chances, and you will take them many times.”

Roberts and Quinn were hooded with a Doctor of Letters and a Doctor of Journalism, respectively.

Click here for a Photo Essay