There will be a final lesson waiting Saturday for more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students who will turn their tassels and embark on careers to come. They will find those lessons in the words of a distinguished American soldier in Gen. (Ret.) Dan K. McNeill and Dr. Franklin Clark III in the graduation ceremonies scheduled for the Crown Coliseum.
“Available to you now is the privilege to serve,” McNeill will tell undergraduates in the 4:30 p.m. commencement. “Now, you must serve. Serving in uniform is a noble calling, but it is not the only way to serve. Seek positions of leadership. Good leadership is the most noble form of service. Learn to follow before you lead. Leadership is continuous learning. Leadership and trust are closely related terms.”
If any one man can tell you about leadership, it’s the retired four-star general who grew up in Duplin County and would go on to command the 82nd Airborne Division, the 18th Airborne Corps, U.S. Army Forces Command, the Coalition Forces, Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003 and the U.S. Army Forces Command from 2004 to 2007. McNeill also served in Vietnam, Korea, Italy, Panama, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan. McNeill retired in 2008 after completing more than 40 years of military service.
Clark knows about leadership, too,
He was the Morehead-Cain scholar out of Fayetteville High School, class of ’65, who became the 6-foot-10 centerpiece of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men’s basketball teams under the late Dean Smith that saw Clark’s 1967, 1968 and 1969 Tar Heel teams advance to the NCAA Final Four each year, including a 1968 runner-up finish to Lew Alcindor-led UCLA.
Clark would become a thoracic surgeon, businessman and real estate developer in this city and unsung supporter of this community, including a $1 million pledge in March toward the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine announced in 2023.
“It is my honor to enjoy the privilege of addressing the men and women who have achieved graduate level of academic accomplishment,” Clark said in a news release. “These alumni will join the leaders of today and tomorrow.”
Clark is the keynote speaker for the 8 p.m. graduate commencement.
“I am truly grateful for Gen McNeill and Dr. Franklin “Rusty” Clark agreeing to be our keynote speakers,” said Dr. Rakesh Gupta, chairman of the university board of trustees. “They are both good friends to Methodist University and very passionate about higher education.
“Gen Dan McNeill is almost an iconic figure – a retired four-star general, former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, commander of Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, raised in eastern North Carolina and now retired here in Fayetteville. The young men and women of the undergraduate class of 2024 are very fortunate to have him as their keynote speaker. I am certain he will be very inspiring and very motivational. I am looking forward to listening to what his advice might be to the class, given the current times.
“Dr. Franklin Clark as the keynote speaker for the graduate class of 2024 is simply outstanding,” Gupta said. “I call him the gentle giant, as tall as he is and as soft spoken as he is. He was a Morehead scholar and played basketball for the Tar Heels, still holds the record for most rebounds in a single game for UNC, went on to become a surgeon and practice right here in Fayetteville before retiring to become a real estate developer. He has very deep roots here, and again, we are very fortunate to have him as our keynote speaker. He, too, will be an incredible presence for the [graduation] ceremony and I am certain his experience and wisdom will be on display as he speaks to the class. This should be a wonderful weekend for the undergraduate and graduate classes as well as for all of us at Methodist University.”
‘A time to celebrate’
Anticipation of graduation is permeating throughout the campus.
“Commencement Weekend is a pivotal moment that allows faculty, staff, alumni and friends to honor the hard work, dedication and achievements of our outstanding Methodist University graduates,” Suzanne Blum Malley, the university provost, said in a news release. “It is a time to celebrate not only their academic success, but their commitment to carrying out the mission and values of our institution as they continue their journey as lifelong Monarchs. We look forward to being a part of such an important day of their lives.”
Among the undergraduates the university will celebrate is Madison Brunson, who is the Class of 2024 Distinguished Graduate. Brunson is among the five students in her undergraduate class with the highest grade-point average and was selected by her fellow students to speak during commencement. From St. Petersburg, Florida, Brunson is a psychology major with dual concentrations in human performance psychology and counseling/clinical psychology and two minors in cognitive behavioral neuropsychology and management.
“Methodist University is very pleased to be graduating 261 bachelor’s degree students and 89 doctoral and master’s degree students at the two spring commencement ceremonies,” said Stanley Wearden, the university president. “We also are tremendously excited and honored to have two distinguished commencement speakers - Gen. Daniel K. McNeill at the bachelor’s degree ceremony and Dr. Franklin Clark at the graduate degree ceremony. Both speakers, who now serve on the board of directors for the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine Corporation, will be presented with honorary doctorates of humane letters in appreciation of their many years of service to MU, Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the United States.”
Epilogue
This is a significant week for Methodist University, circa 1956, that has evolved out of the cotton field of 600-plus acres in north Fayetteville.
It is a place of higher learning that today stands on the shoulders of countless names to include Gov. Terry Sanford, Bishop Paul Garber of the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church, L. Stacy Weaver, Richard Pearce, M. Elton Hendricks, Sid Gautam, Joe W. Stout, Walter and Margaret Clark, Thomas R. and Elizabeth E. McLean, Al Cleveland, Anthony J. Delapa, David and Elizabeth Nimocks, Lura S. Tally, William P. Lowdermilk, Gene Clayton, Mason Sykes, William F. Bethune, Carlos Zukowski and Terri Union, Dr. William Jordan, Harvey and Mary Wright, Murray and Nancy Duggins, Robert J. Chaffin, Dr. Frank Stout, Ashton Lilly, Ramon and Virginia Yarborough, Norwood and Mary Lynn Bryan, John “Mac’ Healey, Dr. Wes and Lucy Jones, Will Gillis, Ralph and Linda Huff, Keith Allison, Sammy and Carol Short, and so many others.
This year’s graduates, including 22 nurses pinned Thursday evening, stand on the shoulders of them all.
Graduates before have stepped up to the challenges of a world ahead, Gen. Dan K. McNeill will remind the undergraduate class Saturday.
“Tag, you’re it,” McNeill will say. “Step up to it. You have the requisite skills, so stride forth with confidence.”
It’s your time, and your time has come.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
Sunday: “You will always walk with us, Mother”
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