Honorary Degree Recipient WalkingStick to Graduates: “Love Every Day”

By Purnell T. Cropper | June 24, 2011

“I graduated thinking that I wanted it all—a home and family, a loving husband and children, and a fascinating and challenging career,” Kay WalkingStick ’59 said in her Honorary Degree acceptance speech. “Well I’ve had that and then some.”

An alumna and renowned artist, WalkingStick received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Arcadia University at the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on May 20, 2011.

She went on to tell the audience an inspiring love story—her own—detailing how she found love at the age of 73. “Keep an open heart as well as an open mind. Don’t get so bogged down in work that you forget to love and enjoy every day,” she reminded graduates.

This year’s other Honorary Degree recipients are: Rosalie Swedlin Cort 68, who received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the Graduate Commencement ceremony on May 19 (view speech); Isaac Stein who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the Graduate Commencement ceremony on May 19 (view speech); and Senator Harris L. Wofford Jr., who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on May 20 (view speech).