Forks in the road and faith in yourself: Trine University celebrates Class of 2025

Trine University celebrated nearly 2,300 graduating students in the Class of 2025 at its spring Commencement ceremonies on May 3.

During the morning ceremony, a packed crowd in the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Inc. Athletic and Recreation Center heard Indiana Gov. Mike Braun encourage graduates to make wise choices, embrace change and be willing to take risks.

In the afternoon event, distinguished alumna Kiruba "Rupa" Shanmugam shared her life story with graduates from Trine University’s hybrid programs in Detroit, Phoenix and Reston, Virginia, and encouraged them to keep faith in themselves no matter what the circumstances.

Both speakers were granted honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees during their respective ceremonies.

Wise choice

Trine University President Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., welcomed the graduates by reminding them that the word “commencement” means a new beginning.

“You've arrived at a significant new beginning, and that alone is cause for celebration in itself,” he said, “The new opportunities that will present themselves because of your new beginning are also reason for celebration. But perhaps the greatest celebration is that you've arrived at this moment.”

He then introduced Gov. Braun, who opened his remarks by encouraging the graduates that they had made a wise choice in coming to Trine.

“(Trine) does what you need to do in the educational world, what you need to do successfully in the entrepreneurial world, and that is listen to your customers — parents and students — and make sure you give them a good product,” he said.

He encouraged the graduates, as they prepared to transition into the next phase of life, to focus on faith, family and community. He also told them to be wise in the choices they make as they encounter “forks in the road.”

“You either go this way or that way, and it's consequential, because if you don't get that right, you end up in a cul de sac of life,” he said. “You can get out of them, but … you're circling around and then hopefully getting back on track.”

Probably even more difficult, he said, is adapting to change along the journey.

“It's easy to get in a groove of where things are working, but … things are going to change. You've got to adapt,” he said.

He also told graduates that “the good Lord wants you to stick your neck out.”

“He doesn't want you to get comfortable. He wants you to embrace life fully,” he said.

The governor then shared examples of these principles reflected in his own life, as he made the journey from small-town Indiana to Wall Street, then back home and eventually to the governor’s mansion.

“Life is filled with risk. If you don't embrace that, I think you could be disappointed in that broad band of mediocrity, (where) I don't think any of us want to end up when you're in the fall and winter stages of your life,” he concluded. “You've already said that you're not going to do that. You're here, and never forget that you're here primarily because of your faith, your family and your community.”

Resilience

Following the governor’s address, the university presented degrees to graduates from Trine University’s Angola campus, Brooks College of Health Professions and TrineOnline.

The presentations included a posthumous degree awarded to Fred Garland, who would have graduated with the Class of 2025 but tragically passed away Dec. 11 in a car accident. Those in attendance gave a standing ovation when the degree was presented to his brother Cortez, a 2024 alumnus.

After the new graduates were inducted into the Alumni Association, Morgan Walz, the Robert B. Stewart Award winner for the Class of 2025, presented the response. Walz said if there was one word that defined her journey at Trine, it was resilience.

“Each of us has faced our own setbacks … but we made it here anyway,” she said, “not because it was easy, but because we kept going. That’s what resilience is all about and that’s what we should celebrate as much as our academic achievements.”

“As we step forward into the next chapter, whether it’s graduate school, a new job or something entirely unknown, let us carry that resilience with us, because no matter what lies ahead, it is not our setbacks that define us, but how we respond to them that really counts.”

Afternoon Commencement

Shanmugam, a 1995 electrical engineering graduate who now serves as president, chief executive officer and majority owner of SoPark Corporation in Buffalo, New York, shared from her own life journey during the afternoon ceremony.

She said her life, which began in a small tin mining town in Malaysia, was, “a dynamic one marked by unexpected turns that have led to unforeseen opportunities. And yes, the occasional bump on the road that has provided invaluable lessons too.”

“As you venture out into your new journey, some day you will be able to share it with others and be proud of what you're sharing,” she said in closing. “One of my favorite quotes that I want to leave you with today was by Gerard Way. It goes like this: ‘One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.’ ”