Fifty-five students graduated Friday at Launer Auditorium
Standing in her blue cap and gown with a smile on her face, Marjorie Quinn told her teachers and classmates not to cry. “This is not the end,” she said.
She and other Douglass High School seniors received their diplomas Friday night, confirming that it is the end, at least, of their high school careers.
Family and friends of the 55 graduates packed Launer Auditorium at Columbia College; it was so full that some people had to stand. Applause thundered as graduates processed into the auditorium, making a piano rendering of “Pomp and Circumstance” almost inaudible.
Before Quinn spoke, Principal Brian Gaub greeted the beaming faces with some history about the school — including the fact that it was shut down in 1960 because of desegregation laws and didn’t award diplomas again until 1995.
“Douglass High School, the central portion of our building, was actually built in 1916, in a way making it actually the oldest high school in Columbia,” he said.
The school’s history was present in the seniors’ family and friends, many of whom are alumni. They stood for a brief moment as Gaub recognized them collectively.
“I am very proud of our students,” Gaub said before turning the podium over to Quinn. She read two poems, dedicated to Douglass and its teachers. One of the lines, directed toward future students, read, “Take pride in your school, obey your teachers, learn to follow the rules.”
Two dozen scholarships and awards were handed out at the ceremony.
“It’s exciting (to win a scholarship),” graduate Terron L. Davis said after the ceremony. “It feels good to have your name called.”
All students had that chance as they walked across the stage, lined with yellow mums, to receive their diplomas. After the last name was called, the applause died down and Gaub presented the class of 2005.
After the ceremony, some graduates lingered, talking with faculty and staff. Eventually, the mums were cleared out, the auditorium was cleaned up and everyone was gone.
Before he left, Davis, his cap and gown still on, offered the graduates around him one last bit of advice.
“If there’s something you want,” he said, “just go after it.”