More than 2,000 family and friends gathered on Saturday morning to celebrate UNC Asheville's newest graduates. Some 221 students were honored during UNC Asheville's third annual December Commencement Ceremony, which was held at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Early in the program, UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder addressed the graduates.

"It is so very appropriate that we gather today at the Asheville Civic Center," said Chancellor Ponder. "While many of our students are already very active members of the Asheville community, hosting our commencement ceremonies at this location marks the symbolic occasion at which you, our graduates, step off the campus and out of your roles as students -- and step into the larger community and your roles as citizens, workers, leaders and life-long learners."

Sarah Judson, UNC Asheville Associate Professor of History and winner of the University's 2008 Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award, gave the commencement address.

Quoting from great minds, including the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr., Judson remarked that she wanted to send the graduates away with three hopes for their future. "Hope that you will look for wisdom in the most unlikely places, to see that in the caring of others you are taking care of yourself, and that you will lead a committed life."

A reception for graduates and their families was held in the Civic Center lobby following the ceremony.