Todd Landis, Class of 1984, spoke to a large gathering in the Senior Garden on June 3, 2017. Seventeen seniors graduated that day, including his oldest son, Gage. During his speech, Mr. Landis, a former teacher turned pilot and graduate of William and Mary, told the seniors:

“Character is not your conscience, determination, drive, or honesty. It works in concert with these . . . . It is a small sliver of your personality that stays strong as long as you nurture it . . . Your conscience will alert you to what is right or wrong, but it is your character that determines which route you take, [and] when your determination wanes . .  . your character will reinvigorate the effort. . . . To borrow liberally from President Lincoln: ‘Go out and continue the work that you have thus far so nobly advanced that has made us proud.’”

Attorney Thomas Dowell, Class of 2001, delivered the commencement address in 2016 to a graduating class of 21 students that included his brother Joseph, now a freshman at the College of William and Mary. A subsequent magna cum laude graduate of Tulane University and UVA's law school, Dowell advised the seniors to be bold and ever thankful for what they have.

G. Shawn Hunter, class of 1987, an Executive Producer and Vice President for Leadership Solutions at Skillsoft in Maine, delivered a dynamic address in 2015, encouraging the seniors “to do what it takes to make the greatest impact” on others “instead of going through life asking, ‘What is in it for me?’" Mr. Hunter, also the author of two books, Out Think and Flipped Leadership, ended his address with directives for encouragement, telling the seniors:

“You can do anything but not everything, so consider thoughtfully what to think about; ask questions and trust others.”

“Measure your success by what you give and not by what you get.”

“Give compassion and kindness as generously as you can.”

Tobias Dengle, class of 1989, was the graduation speaker for the class of 2014.  He offered the seniors these three pieces of sage advice:

"Always be prepared;"

"Test drive as many jobs as possible"

"Find and embrace what you feel passion for in your life."

In the heat of the afternoon sun, Mr. Dengel reminded the 2014 graduates that they “only have control within the context of the tides swirling around them and need to be prepared for wherever the current might take them.” He encouraged them to “live life by pushing not by being pulled” and reminded them that, “as Aristotle first pointed out 2,300 years ago, the clearest road to happiness is when people . . . spend much of their time fully engaged.. . .The process of the work itself, not its fruits, are success and what breeds happiness in humans.” He ended his speech by quoting lines from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, Ulysses.

“Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are –One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.”