USF “Golden Guard” Appreciation

Why would you most and least desire to attend a school reunion?

“Enjoy good memories. But don’t spend your remaining days here looking back, wishing for the good old days.” (Randy Alcorn)

I’ve attended a class reunion before and it felt distant and awkward to me in the presence of my former classmate peers. I mean, did I really need to be reminded how old everyone looked as we chatted fondly about “The Good Old Days” of high school? But as a graduate of the 1974 class at the University of South Florida (USF), this “Golden Guard” Appreciation Day at the Alumni Center on main campus in Tampa, for me, felt completely different. For while I had  returned to my academic past once again, the intelligent “buzz” circulating around the conference venue before and during this ceremony felt for me truly liberating.

To clarify further, I knew immediately at the time of my arrival that the stage was set to conduct an honorable purpose for this planned gathering. For all attendees had been asked beforehand by email to prepare a brief ‘bio” that focused on their defining qualities as a person along with their overall career accomplishments. Each inductee would thus be publicly recognized today in their own words individually for keeping the USF model of academic excellence in mind as a major springboard for obtaining such past success. In essence, we were being treated as esteemed dignitaries with welcoming handshakes, enlightening speech praises and even “Rocky, the college mascot there, to add a youthful campus spirit of “now” energy to the crowd.  

Definitely the highlight of this showcase happened as Ruth and I came to the podium to receive our respective gold gilded medals with a handshake and photo taken with the current Dean of Academic Affairs. Upon further reflection of that moment, I realized that I’d obtained an important practical meaning for this 50th year token of graduate appreciation. For  I would hang this insignia in the most conspicuous place I could find to remind myself daily of the importance of spreading truth and wisdom to combat these seriously turbulent times in my country. Enjoy the photos of this event.