Elon News Network sat down with the class of 2024 commencement speaker Ginna Claire Mason ‘13 ahead of the 2024 graduation ceremony. Mason toured all around campus and saw all the changes that have been made since her time as an undergraduate at Elon University.
What made you come back as a commencement speaker for the 2024 commencement?
I was invited and I wanted to come. I say, while I was here, and definitely since I've been here, I joke that I'm an unpaid walking advertisement for Elon University because I love the school so much and my time here was so special and formative for me and just a sacred four years here and I believe in the music theater department, but just the university as a whole and what they have to offer students, and I'm really passionate about the culture here and the kind of people that Elon turns out. And I called my parents and they cried and I cried. Yeah, it's just a huge honor.
As an alum, what are some of the most memorable things that you did on campus? What are some memories that you have made?
I was really involved with InterVarsity as well as with the music theater program. So you know, I definitely lived in the performing arts building. I feel like you're there from the crack of dawn till late at night with rehearsals. That's why I loved it that way. And being involved in university meant I had another outlet and continued students from other degrees and I lived off campus on O’Kelly which was an InterVarsity house. So it was really good for me to be in community with women there. I really loved getting to study abroad. One of the things I love about Elon specifically for people who are pursuing musical theater as a career I think conservatories are great, but I think well rounded people make well rounded performers. And that being in a liberal arts setting, I just think you're challenged in so many ways educationally that is going to make you a fuller person. What you learn or what I learned in psychology and anthropology and statistics and chemistry informs the way I approach and interpret material as an actor. I'm really grateful for the opportunity that I had to have really intensive conservatory style training and singing and acting and dancing, but also to experience all these other arts and sciences, I think, really challenged me and groomed me in ways that are meaningful and have been definitely helpful for me.
How has the campus changed since you graduated?
It was gorgeous. 10 years later, I would say it's even more beautiful now. I was telling my friend when I got here I opened the car door and it just smelled like Elon but it seems bigger and better than ever and yet it maintained the intimacy of these small classes, sizes, small student body. And being at College Coffee today and getting to mingle and see the different student organizations and grab a bagel, it's like, while things have changed, I feel like the heart of the school is the same and that's really special.
All the seniors that will be graduating this year came in during those times and COVID they didn’t really have that same freshman experience like you or the other students here would have. What's your message to those students that have been through this experience?
I think it's pretty wild that Elon was able to open and figure out ways for students not only to come back safely. I heard that lots of spaces were created outdoors within spaced out Adirondack chairs to to encourage people to get out of their dorm and find community and be together and still find relationships safely within within the the walls or the grounds of Elon.
Something that was really special for me during COVID was I got to welcome back audiences after shows had been shut down for 18 months. So to be part of welcoming audiences back to Broadway was really meaningful for me. And when Glinda comes down in the bubble, her first line is, “it's good to see me isn't it?” And that of course is her funny line but for me to get to look out and to see everybody was really, really special and I couldn't cry because the show was just getting started. No, but the power of getting to see to see your community and I'm so glad that Elon was able to figure out a way to to come back and be together in person so that if nothing else, even with a mask on, you could see each other and then the really powerful line that Glenda has, at the end of the show is we've been through a frightening time. We've been through a lot and everyone's story and journeys are obviously different from what they experienced during that time. But to have been in the together and to hopefully be stronger and more compassionate on the other side is remarkable.