With spring showers dominating the weather forecast in the weeks prior to Saturday, May 16, there was some concern buzzing around campus that Sweet Briar College's 100th Commencement could be a washout.

But by 9:30 a.m. that morning, as the 146 graduates stood in front of Benedict Hall adjusting their robes, bobby-pinning their mortar boards and posing for photographs, an early morning fog had lifted. It gave way to a Carolina blue sky, a light breeze and sunshine that peeked through scattered clouds.

As Edward Elgar's perennial composition, "Pomp and Circumstance," was played and the graduates and faculty found their seats on the grassy upper quad, everyone, it seemed, could breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the ceremony.

After the invocation by Chaplain Adam White and welcoming remarks from Barbara Smith Young, vice chair of the College's board of directors, Kathryn Brock took the podium to talk about what would be a recurring theme for Commencement: the strength and perseverance of women.

Brock, the Class of 2009 president, talked about the women who have most influenced her life: her mother and her two grandmothers.

Brock said her Grandmother Mimi used to tell her, "You reap what you sow," which, as a young child, she thought was all about gardening. "Now I know she was not talking about the nature and the flowers she loved so much. She was talking about everything that we do — whether it's kindness and friendliness or evil and hate — it all comes back to us in the end."

From her mother, "whose attitude and words of wisdom are a bit more direct," Brock said, she learned to "think about it, get over it and get on with it. What is it worth to hold a grudge or to worry about something you cannot change? It's better to suck it up, put on a smile and keep on going."

Lastly, Brock spoke of her Grandmother Gina, who she described as a "can-do girl."

Years ago, after losing a footrace to her grandmother, Brock said she whined, "I just can't beat you. I'm only four years old," but Grandmother Gina would have none of it. "You need to erase the word 'can't' from your vocabulary," she had said, "because you're a can-do girl and you can do anything you put your mind to."

She and her classmates also learned these things at Sweet Briar, Brock said. "Through what we have learned at Sweet Briar, we have prepared ourselves with all the grace and dignity to be able to take on anything that comes in our path."

The morning's keynote address was delivered by Margaret Warner, senior correspondent for the Public Broadcasting System's nightly news program, "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." She also is lead correspondent for the show's overseas reporting unit, a job that has taken her to Iran, Turkey, France, Kenya, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past three years.

In her introduction of Warner, Sweet Briar President Elisabeth Muhlenfeld — in her final Commencement at the College — spoke about the longtime journalist's career and accomplishments, including a 2008 Emmy she won for reporting on the recent unrest in Pakistan. "Not bad for an English major," Muhlenfeld said.

Warner went on to talk about what she has learned from women around the world. "In thirty-five years of reporting, I've covered women at the pinnacle of leadership and in the pit of poverty," she said. "And I've become amazed at the grit that women show, their ability to persevere and endure in the face of overwhelming odds."

Like Brock, Warner then gave examples of women whose words and actions have affected her.

When she was in Darfur with the United Nations, Warner said, she met women who had walked as far as 100 miles in 110-degree temperatures for help. "Some had been raped by militia men, others had watched their daughters be raped, their fathers and oldest sons killed, and yet there they were, sitting under these small little makeshift shelters."

As these women told their stories, Warner said she was amazed and wondered, "What keeps these women going? Why didn't they just curl up and die as they watched their life being literally burned up?"

But as she looked at the women and the small children who were smiling and laughing around them, she realized the answer. "It was the children. ... I was just awestruck that women who had endured such horror could not only make it to a safe place but maintain the joy in their children's lives and eyes."

At the "other end of the spectrum," Warner said, was Segolene Royale, who — had she defeated Nicolas Sarkozy — would have been France's first female president. In Royale, Warner admires a woman who not only defied her father's belief that women should not be educated but also raised four children as a single mother before running for the highest post in the land.

She described Royale as "quintessentially French — beautiful, feminine with a fabulous clothes sense, elegant [and] a committed Socialist" who could have stepped from the pages of a fashion magazine.  

"We should all aspire to combine the two," Warner said to laughter from the audience. "Not necessarily the Socialist part, but achievement without giving up your essence of femininity."

While working in Afghanistan on a story about the status of women in that country, Warner met her final examples of the strength and resiliency of women. Although most were still wearing the burka in public and 13- or 14-year-old girls were regularly sold into marriage for as little as $140, these women — who were supposed to have been "liberated" from the Taliban years ago — still persevered.

Some of the women she met were learning money-making skills and dreamed of education for their daughters. Others "talked boldly about their dreams," Warner said, adding that one college student she met aspired to be the president of Afghanistan.

In her charge to the graduates, President Muhlenfeld also spoke of the power and influence of women — Sweet Briar women. For more than a century, from Indiana Fletcher Williams who envisioned the College to the 100th graduating class, Sweet Briar women have been "making a difference in every sphere of life."

"Each of you will disappoint yourselves at some point in your life," Muhlenfeld said. "I certainly have — more than once. But if you live an invested life, involved in community and attendant to your own personal foundation, thoughtful about your life, intentional in your actions, and always hungry to learn, you will do all of us proud. Our expectations for a graduating class have never been higher. Good luck."

During the ceremony, 133 bachelor's degrees were awarded and 13 master's degrees, which included 11 Master of Arts in Teaching and two Master of Education degrees. The following awards also were presented to members of the graduating class and members of the College community:

Kathryn Lydin received the Penelope Lane Czarra Award, which honors the senior "who best combines scholastic achievement, student leadership and effective contributions to the improvement of the quality of student life at Sweet Briar."

Doreen McVeigh was awarded the Connie M. Guion Award, which recognizes "excellence as a human being and as a member of the College."

As the highest-ranking member of her class, Emma Meador was named the Emilie Watts McVea Scholar.

Alison Sims was presented the Walker Family Award. The award honors a senior of above-average academic standing who best personifies the spirit of the Walker family: "a cheerful, positive disposition, showing in her relationships warmth, generosity and humility."

Donna Boyd, secretary and receptionist for co-curricular life, received the Shirley P. Reid Excellence in Service Award.

The Connie Burwell White Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to voice instructor Marcia Thom.