December Graduates Get Some ‘Sociology To Go’
Parents, friends, faculty and other members of the Virginia Wesleyan community recognized graduating students on Sunday, Dec. 6.
Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Va. - Parents, friends, faculty and other members of the Virginia Wesleyan community gathered on Sunday, Dec. 6, in the Convocation Center of the Jane P. Batten Student Center to honor December graduates who will complete their studies at Virginia Wesleyan College at the end of the semester.
Graduates, families and friends were greeted and congratulated by President Billy Greer, Professor of Religious Studies Dr. Craig Wansink, and Darryl Perkinson '75 Treasurer of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Dr. Kathy Stolley, Batten Associate Professor of Sociology and recipient of the 2009 Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Teaching Award, addressed the students with her speech, “Sociology To Go.”
Referring to one of her favorite books, Applying Sociology: Making a Better World, Stolley asked the graduates to think how they can make the world a better place.
“In the beginning of the text, chapter one explains ‘social imagination,’” explained Stolley. “What happens to you is connected to what happens to me. A better world for you is a better world for me.”
Stolley continued to connect her speech with chapters in the textbook, pointing out important sociology subjects such as culture, society, deviance and inequalities. She concluded her speech with the last chapter of the textbook titled, “Social Change” or “Taking Action.”
“And, in a sense, we’ve come full circle,” said Stolley. “We’re back to the idea that what happens to you is connected to what happens to me.” Based on that notion, she asked the students think about what kind of world they want to live in and what their place is in making that world a reality.
“Embrace the sociology,” encouraged Stolley. “We are all in this together; you are not alone; you can change the world to be a better place if you choose to be more than average.”
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