The hot sun shone down on Butterfield Stadium today, mirroring the beaming faces of proud parents of the 1,170 undergraduate students and 20 graduate students present for Ithaca College’s 117th Commencement ceremony.

After the processional opening, Provost Marisa Kelly awarded the honorary doctor of laws degree to Dr. C. William Schwab ’68, a 20-year member of the board of trustees and professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

Schwab spoke of his time at Ithaca College amid the tumultuous changes of the 1960s, and he sees a parallel between past and present.

“Like the class of the 1960s, you are living through an epic time for Ithaca College,” he said in regards to the changes taking place because of the IC 20/20 10-year strategic plan.

President Tom Rochon then introduced the guest speaker, Amy Kule ’87, who is the executive producer of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“Everybody loves a parade,” Rochon said. “It’s safe to say everyone here has watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade at least once.”

The lighthearted tone continued when Kule began her speech, recounting her time as an undergraduate and making the graduates laugh with her relatable tales, like using her parents’ “emergency only” credit card for bar tabs. Then, like at the Macy’s parade, two blue star balloons painted with “Ithaca” came to life on either side of the stage.

Kule spoke about the perspective she’s gained since the day her parents dropped her off for her freshman year at the college. Initially, she wanted to major in film or theater, but she followed her parents’ advice to take many liberal arts classes. Looking back, she said “bouncing around” from subject to subject as an undergraduate was much like her work now, where she utilizes a “hyperfocus on many areas of interest.”

She ended her speech with some inspiration for graduates, telling them to never settle.

“Find your passion and stick with it,” she said.

After Kule’s speech came a burst of parade-like confetti, and the deans from each school announced that the students have completed their requirements and were ready to receive their degrees.

Rochon then introduced senior class president Jimmy Knowles, who asked graduates to think back on their time on campus. He spoke about how their perspectives have changed since orientation, such as the first time he spoke of heading back to Ithaca after a break as “going home.”

“With an open mind, you’ve not only been able to change your perspective, but others’,” he said of the experience of learning among a diverse student body.

Knowles spoke of how time and change influences perspective and that graduates should use their time wisely after leaving Ithaca.

“The world is changing around us,” he said. “We have and will continue to inspire that change.”

The class of 2012 did inspire change, as they set the record for the highest participation level among seniors who donated to the class gift. The 529 donors made up 38 percent of the senior class.

Class officers presented Rochon with the 2012 senior gift, which included a $25,000 fund to establish an emergency financial aid scholarship for students whose financial situation drastically changes while in college. Between the scholarship and various other allocations, the senior class raised a total of $31,382 for the gift.

Rochon thanked the graduates and spoke further on change and struggle happening quickly around them in the world, from failing companies to fallen dictators. Despite the uncertainty of the time, he said now is an amazing time to enter the world, especially as an “adept” graduate of the college.

“Things have never been more open for the insurgent outsider,” he said. “And you are going to be ready.”

The class of 2012 semi-formal, which was being held in Emerson Suites as part of the college’s Senior Week, was cleared out by police officers at about 11:45 p.m. Thursday.

Students and other attendees were asked to leave, and according to some were told by police that the building was “not safe.”

The tweet, which was posted from @wyattcain’s account at around 11:09 p.m., read “There’s a bomb in this room. #freespeech #wherestheline #icsw2012.” Earlier that evening, a tweet was posted to the account that read “I’m going to stab someone tonight. #thatsnotajoke #icsw2012 #iwannabeonthebigboard.”

Dunn confirmed early Friday morning that campus authorities were notified of both tweets by a college staff member at around 11:10 p.m. — about one minute after the second tweet was posted publicly online.

Dunn said a person was arrested, but could not confirm whether the person was a student due to rights and privacy laws. The person, he said, was issued an appearance ticket for the Town of Ithaca court.

Officers declined to comment immediately after the evacuation, but said that an investigation was underway. Around midnight outside Phillips Hall, some officers walked around the building’s premises with flashlights and some searched under vehicles in the area.

Dunn said on Friday that the Office of Public Safety was “satisfied” with its investigation, and that the area has been deemed safe.

Senior Michele Fortier, who attended the dance with friends, said the situation put a damper on what had been an enjoyable week of events planned for the senior class.

“The music stopped playing and everyone was like ‘What’s going on?’ she said. “After a couple minutes, the DJ told us to evacuate. Some thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t. Then we were all ushered out. Everyone was having a really great time, the decorations were gorgeous. And someone just ruined it all with a stupid tweet.”

Other students responded to the situation via social media with a mixture of frustration and confusion that the event was cut about one hour short.

Check back later for more updates.

The Bombers’ biggest highlight came at first doubles. The team of senior captain Jimmy Newton and sophomore David Andersen defeated Stevens juniors Chris Rosensteel and Shota Taskai 8-5. The Rosensteel/Tasaki pairing was ranked ninth in the region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and entered the match with a 19—7 record during the course of this academic year.

Andersen and senior Dan Levine also won in singles play for the Blue and Gold. Andersen defeated Stevens sophomore Derek Smith 6-3, 6-3 in fifth singles and Levine prevailed against freshman Daniel Szwarc by a score of 6-3, 6-1 in sixth singles.

So it is at this time that I will announce my resignation from the Sharp Notes blog. I was extremely excited when I was asked to blog about music back in the winter of 2010. It allowed me to be a little less formal than I have to be when writing for the print edition. I was also able to cover quirkier subject matter, which is always good.

But after a year and a half, it’s time for Sharp Notes to have a new voice. I’ve never been one to let the status quo go unchallenged. I like shaking things up a little bit. I would consider it irresponsible to keep blogging after this year. It’s obvious that I don’t cover every musical genre out there, so I am unable to cater to everyone. But hopefully the next blogger brings a fresh perspective.

But before I sign off for good, I would like to present what I consider to be one of the greatest performances available on YouTube. I started this blog with a post that pondered U2’s reasoning for skipping Boston on their 360 Tour. That ended up not being a major issue. I was lucky enough to see them twice this summer in Philadelphia and Moncton, NB. It seems only right that this blog should end with U2. This video is from one of their shows at Slane Castle.

Thanks for reading and rock on.

Senior Emma Dewart received the Field Athlete of the Meet award for the second straight year. Junior Jenn Randall received the title of NYSCTC Track Athlete of the Meet, while the Bombers’ coaching staff earned the honor of NYSCTC Coaching Staff of the Meet.

Dewart won the high jump after clearing 1.63 meters and the 100-meter hurdles after clocking in at 14.48. She also placed third in the 200-meter dash, giving her her third Eastern College Athletic Conference championships qualifier of the day.

Randall won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.58 and placed first in the 1,500-meter run by finishing at 4:32.93. Both of these times set meet records and met ECAC-qualifying times.

Other notable finishes included senior Rebecca Coffman’s fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (25.95) and third-place finish in the 100-meter dash (12.75). Junior Ebonie Howard placed second in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:05.41 and senior Jessica Hoeffner’s 34.29-meter throw was good enough for second place.

The South Hill squad will travel to Troy, N.Y., on May 17-18 for the ECAC Outdoor Championship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

To find victory against the Cardinals, the Blue and Gold relied on solid pitching from sophomore pitchers Sam Bender and Jillian Olmstead and a five-run second inning.

All of the game’s offense came in the second. The visiting Cardinals started off the inning with one run on an RBI double and handed the South Hill squad a 1-0 deficit heading into the bottom frame. The Bombers responded with an onslaught of offense. They sent 11 batters to the plate in that inning and seven batters tallied singles, accounting for all the Blue and Gold’s hits for the game.

The Bombers on small ball and contributions from seven different batters to get on base and five to bring home runs. It was truly a team effortthat brought the South Hill squad the victory on Saturday. The Blue and Gold await the winner of the elimination game between Fisher and Alfred University (26—13 overall, 7—5 Empire 8) that will decide their opponent for the championship game at 11 a.m. Sunday on Kostrinsky Field