By Denice Thibodeau
Danville Register & Bee
Published: May 4, 2008

More than 2,000 people gathered at Averett University’s E. Stuart James Grant Convocation and Athletic Center on Saturday to witness graduation ceremonies for 264 students.

One of the most excited students was Albert Maurakis, who earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history after more than six decades away from school. Maurakis attended Averett from 1938 through 1941, and while other things kept him busy for a while, he returned in 2005 to finish his degree.

“I thirst for knowledge, and I enjoyed my professors and the students,” he said. “The whole university wanted to help.”

He grinned. “I’ll be 91 next month, but I don’t feel like it!”

His wife, Patricia, was in the audience, with a grin almost as wide as his.

“This is so exciting!” she said.

One grandmother and grandson were both celebrating Saturday.

Timothy J. Kruger II earned his Bachelor of Science in aerospace management. He plans to become a commercial pilot.

His grandmother, Martha Crush Seer, introduced him to her alma mater when he was making his mind up about where to attend college. She was at the ceremony not only to watch Kruger graduate, but to celebrate her 50th class reunion.

Many members of the Class of 1958 were at the ceremony, where it was announced that they were endowing a scholarship to the university. The class has so far raised about $38,000 for the endowment, and hopes to reach $100,000.

“That’s our legacy to the school,” Gonzalee Ford, a 1958 alumnus, said.

Averett president Dr. Richard A. Pfau, who has announced his plans to retire, said his last graduation ceremony was bittersweet. He and his wife of 44 years are retiring to her small New York hometown, where they will boost the population to 549 residents.

Pfau’s official portrait, which will hang in the Presidents Dining Room in Bishop Hall with those of past presidents, was unveiled during the graduation ceremonies.

Dr. Robert C. Vaughan III, president of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, delivered the commencement address. Vaughan told the graduates that they could make a difference locally, nationally and around the world.

“Your education has empowered you, has freed you from the limits of your own time, your own place, your own circumstances,” Vaughan said.

He told them to keep open minds, which will lead them to question certainties. He pointed out several “truths” believed in once upon a time:

“Everything that can be invented has been invented,” said the commission of the U.S. Patents Office, Charles H. Duell, in 1899.

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their homes,” said Ken Olsen, who founded Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1980s.

He recommended not cutting themselves off from outside influences or isolating themselves, like a gated community, but to open themselves to surprise, knowledge and diversity.

“Our future, our democracy, lie in building bridges, not walls; in opening doors, not shutting gates,” said Vaughan. “It lies in openness; openness to ideas and people who may be unfamiliar, openness to knowledge, openness to surprise.

“The choice is yours. I urge you to use your education to tear down the walls that separate and to throw open the gates that divide.”

Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.