Last Friday, at 2:30 pm, I was seated in Badger Stadium at Snow College. I was occupying the absolute highest and the furthest south seat in the place. Actually, at that point in time, I wasn’t seated. I was standing, as directed, in honor of the procession of Snow College administrators, guests, faculty, and graduates as they entered the stadium.

It was graduation day. Snow College graduated 1,335 students in the class of 2024. There were graduates from 28 of the 29 counties in Utah. (President Stacee Yardley McIff commented that they needed to send someone to Daggett County to do some recruiting.) Twenty-nine different states and 27 nations were represented among the graduates.

I’ve attended graduations at Snow College before. I remember some more than others. All three of our children graduated from Snow. They all “walked” and wore the gowns. (The family rule was “no walk, no gift.”) I remember two of the three speakers from those graduations. I’d have to try to find my notes for the other one.

Larry Miller, former owner of the Jazz, now deceased, spoke at my daughter’s graduation. I quite often quote his main points from part of his speech.

He assured the graduates that there was a place for them out there in the world. He said that there were ways of cutting down on the competition they would have for positions in the working world.

“Number one, ” he said, “show up.”

“Number two, show up on time.”

“Number three, show up on time with a good attitude and work hard”

He said you can cut out ninety percent of the competition if you do those three things.

My youngest son’s graduation had Spencer Eccles as the commencement speaker. The Eccles clan was essentially First Security Bank before that bank merged with Wells Fargo in 2000. The Eccles foundations have donated tons of money to many causes, schools, organizations, buildings, etc. in the state of Utah. (Exhibit “A” — The Snow College Eccles Center for the Performing Arts.)

I got to meet Spencer and Cleone Eccles (a Fairview “girl” — now deceased) at a breakfast on the day of that graduation. I learned at that time that Cleone had excellent reading tastes. She was then, like you are now, a reader of “Inside Sanpete.”

In my brief conversation with the Eccles, I held back from telling the only First Security Bank joke that I know. When talking about money, the joke was that it was actually possible to “take it with you” when you died — if you kept your money in First Security Bank. This was because First Security had branches all over hell.

Spencer’s speech to the graduating students at the college was excellent. He had a great speaking voice and his talk was well put together. Most importantly, it was interesting and not too long.

He outlined three principles which he believed are important for success. Here they are as I remember them: 1) Give an intense focused effort in your life 2) Temper your life with kindness 3) Stabilize your life through strong family relationships.

You might ask why I was there at that breakfast, if it was a gathering of “big wigs”, “grand high pooh-bahs” and the like. That’s a very good question.

Why I was there had nothing to do with me. It had to do with my wife. She’s a professor at Snow College. She, Diane Ogden, and Dr. Kim Christison, announced the names of the graduates as they were presented their diplomas. They did that for a number of years.

The qualifications of Diane and Kim for their graduation duties seemed to me to be their skills of being able to pronounce unfamiliar and foreign names. They also had the ability to project and enunciate with volume. In other words, they were “loud mouths” — in the most affectionate usage of that phrase.

So, at the graduation this past Friday, two honorary degrees were awarded. Sanpete’s own Eddie Cox was honored. He’s one of Sanpete’s finest. Like many of you, I know Eddie personally. The honor given was well deserved. Governor Spencer Cox, son of Eddie, was in attendance and was mentioned.

The governor was given a little time to address the students. He preached on the subject of looking for more than just temporary pleasure in life. He spoke in favor of seeking for the satisfying, long lasting rewards of joy and happiness. (Hasn’t he heard that money can, indeed, buy happiness? You just have to know where to shop!) (Just kidding, Governor)

Automotive businessman and champion of education, Brent Brown was also honored. He gave the commencement speech.

He stressed being a person of distinction. Rise above being average, was his message.

Those honored guests were “called out” by name along with many of the other guests in attendance. The graduates were, of course, announced by name.

Of all the names that were called out Friday, there was one that was missing, in my opinion. So, I’m going to call that missing name out here now. Professor Diane Ogden. (I did yell that name out myself during the procession from the back of the stadium before they formally entered. I’m sometimes willing to embarrass myself (and my wife) like that.)

The reason I feel compelled to call her name out now is that after 38 years of teaching at Snow, Diane is hanging up her whiteboard markers and PowerPoint presentations. This was her last semester of teaching. Within a few more days of reviewing tests and completing final duties, the “retirement train is arriving at the station.”

Diane graduated from BYU on April 20, 1979, with a major in French Literature and a minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). We got married the next day after dating for nearly two years. (They don’t call me “Speed” for nothing)

After living in Sanpete for a while, Diane was curious about the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at Snow. She visited the director of the program there and the rest is history.

Diane earned her master’s degree from The School of International Training. She spent two summers in an intensive program in Brattleboro, Vermont and did course work otherwise to obtain that degree.

Besides teaching, she has served in multiple capacities at the college including Director of the International Center, International Student Recruiter, and International Club Advisor, to name a few.

Diane has traveled the world on behalf of Snow College and made lasting friends personally and for the college. She’s influenced, for the good, countless students on campus in Ephraim. It’s been a great run. I’m proud of her! Happy Retirement Diane. — Merrill

Newsletter