There is a graduation cap and gown that has traveled to and fro across the UTM campus much like those magical blue jeans in the film, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” If you remember, the blue jeans were shared equally among four young women, miraculously fitting each girl to a tee. Even though they had totally different body shapes, backgrounds, styles, and life experiences; the pants were the one thing that tied them together. Much like the movie, this cap and gown symbolizes strength, determination, celebration and new beginnings.
This particular cap and gown was first worn by Hannah Stewart. Hannah received her Bachelors in Communications from UTM in 2012. She went on to snag a rewarding position in the UTM University Relations Office as Marketing Coordinator; Hannah resides in Union City. The famous cap and gown has also been used for promotional materials for UTM.
Next to don the cap and gown was none other than my mother, Tammy Stanford. Tammy was a non-traditional student and she obtained her Bachelors in Communications from UTM in 2013. Hannah and Tammy became friends sharing classes together, and when graduation came around Tammy asked to borrow Hannah’s cap and gown. Tammy, a 14 year UTM employee, is a Success Counselor in the Student Success Department and resides in Martin.
When graduation grew close for my best friend, Carly Coleman Luther, my mother asked Hannah if she minded if Carly borrowed the cap and gown. Carly and I went to high school together and were roommates in college. Carly graduated from UTM in 2016 with a Bachelors in Agriculture and is the office manager for Coleman Trucking. Carly and her husband Cory Luther (BSAG ‘14) help run the Luther Cattle Company in Troy, Tennessee.
As lives continued to intertwine, Tammy became friends with Summer Patterson White, daughter of Sheila Patterson (MSEd ‘05), Tammy’s supervisor in the Student Success Department. One day while Summer was visiting her mother’s office, Summer and Tammy chatted about graduation and Summer was quickly added to the list to share the cap and gown. She graduated with her Bachelors in Communications in 2017 and she and her husband Robert live in Union City, TN, with their son Emmitt. Summer works for CAM Electric in Union City.
And last but not least, the next person to wear this famous cap and gown will be me. I will graduate from UTM in about four weeks with my Bachelors in Communications. I am uncertain of my future, but my time at UTM has been some of the best years of my life; this campus is home to me and the faculty and staff are family. My student employment position in the University Relations Office has given me invaluable life lessons and hands on experience; those folks will be the hardest to say goodbye to.
These five women mesh wonderfully, but yet are very different people. One handles campus campaigns, one counsels freshman helping them through their first year of college, one manages fleets of trucks and works cows from dawn to dusk every day, another handles the books for a very busy company, and one will be a brand new UTM graduate. But they have managed to find a common denominator that brings them together, an alma mater, …and a simple, black cap and gown.
Photo Credit/Aaron Hawkins
