Calatrava speaks at May commencement (Photo by Austin Kilgore, The Daily Campus)

Patrick Storer, fresh-faced graduate from the Termerlin Advertising Institute, never thought graduation would come so quickly.

“It doesn’t seem over yet,” he said. “Four years literally flashed before my eyes.”

On Saturday, May 14, Storer, whether he was ready or not, and 2,020 other SMU graduates, according to Provost Ross Murfin, made the traditional transformation from students to graduates, but not without hearing the final words of President R. Gerald Turner and Commencement speaker Santiago Calatrava.

In his final farewell, President Turner thanked graduates for their tremendous achievements at SMU, referring to the perseverance students showed after the 9/11 attacks. He reflected on the support and courage the class showed for each other, in only their first few weeks away from home.

“I am proud of the way you held together and supported each other during those days of tragedy,” he said.

Leaving on a sentimental note, President Turner introduced Calatrava, an internationally renowned Spanish architect.

Calatrava, also an engineer and sculptor, provided graduates with his personal analysis of a “new beginning.”

He paralleled the Bible’s Old and New Testaments opening phrase, “In the Beginning,” with the fundamental meaning of the word “architecture.” Describing the two foundational structures in his life, architecture and the Bible, Calatrava dissected their meanings.

He said the root words in architect, “arc”,and “tect,” when used alone provide a simple, less arbitrary meaning. However, together their meaning has many implications and cultural messages. Calatrava shared his: “The worker, through the proper technique, can achieve art.”

Later in the ceremony, Calatrava received a Doctor of the Arts degree from the Meadows School of the Arts, one of three SMU honorary degrees presented. Calatrava is well known in the SMU community for designing the fountain-sculpture “Wave,” which is displayed in front of the Meadows Museum.

He also designed the 2004 Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece and three bridges for Dallas’ Trinity River Project.

Other highlights included Provost Murfin honoring the 50th SMU reunion class, including 1955 graduates Rev. James V. Lyles and Rev. A. Cecil Williams, two of the five first African-American graduates from SMU.