As the year comes to a close, the yearly senior chapel sends off the seniors to provide motivation and guidance in a life following God. AU’s Class of 2026 got their final chapel send-off Tuesday.
“Don’t sit back and consume” was the message by Business Analytics and Data Science double major Owen Mockabee. Mockabee pointed out his development of AU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) program and the AU’s men’s golf team. “A year before I got there, there were only 2 kids on the team,” said Mockabee about his journey with the golf team. Mockabee pointed out the person you should follow during your journey, God the creator.
Mockabee in his AU career led FCA, and men’s golf, along with that busy schedule he earned a 4.0 GPA, which he was honored for as well.
Josiah Zaragoza, a political science, philosophy and economics major, was the second speaker. He began with an aggressive “tone-shift” saying, “You are weak, you cannot change the world, you cannot fight back the decay of sinful humans.” With those phrases, he reflected ways you can do those things, but not alone. Zaragoza highlighted leadership provided by God, and repeated his first phrases with corrections. “You are weak, find strength and friendship with cooperation, you cannot change the world, but with a strong community you just might, you cannot fight back the decay of sinful humans, it regards the body of the church and humans around us.
Zaragoza will graduate with three degrees with his major, with that he will attend Indiana University McKinney School of Law in the fall.
Along with the two great speeches, Provost Courtney Taylor and President Scott Moats honored the seniors with a 4.0 GPA with an award. These are the seniors who were honored:
Jillian Crawford, Arie De Young, Loralee De Young, Ashlie Dent, Kalyn Dilts, Moriah Doran, Rachel Lopez, Owen Mockabee, Madelynn Schoenradt, Jakob Surgeon, Luke Weinmann, Nathaniel Williams, Ameila Zuehls, Olivia Armstrong
Along with academic awards, there were two H.L Baker Awards given out to faculty and staff voted by students for their great care for campus.
Dr. Matthew Preston, the chair and assistant professor of computer science and Marty Courtney from Create, the beloved sandwich shop on campus, were the winners. This was the second time Marty has won this award.
After chapel, the seniors walked to Pioneer Rock as they did when they first arrived on campus.
Commencement for the class of 2026 will take place on Saturday, May 9 at 2 p.m.