'Take time to prepare,' CEU graduates are told

PRICE — Take time to prepare because "you never know when the spotlight is going to be on you," Denise Greenlaw Ramonas advised the 500 graduates of the College of Eastern Utah Saturday.

Ramonas, a Utahn who worked more than 20 years as a staff member in the U.S. Senate, was the main speaker at the college's commencement ceremonies. A graduate of the University of Utah College of Law, she served as assistant secretary to the Senate majority leader, a staff member for two minority leaders and as general counsel to the Senate Budget Committee.

Also Friday, at ceremonies at CEU's San Juan campus in Blanding, 105 CEU and four Utah State University Extension students received degrees and certificates.

CEU President Ryan L. Thomas opened the exercises in Price by recognizing the 1457th combat engineering battalion of the Utah National Guard, which usually presents the colors at CEU commencements. Battalion members will be returning over the next few days after serving more than a year in Iraq.

Ramonas recalled a teacher who wrote on a chalk board: "Preparation precedes power."

At one point in her career, Ramonas was seeking a job as assistant to a senator who had just been appointed to a commission dealing with Central American policy. Her competition was a man who was more qualified on paper but who was handicapped by his attitude, she said. Because he was confident he would get the job, he took a week's vacation prior to the interview.

Ramonas spent the week studying up on the job duties. She got the position.

Another time, she recalled, she was asked to write a speech for the Senate majority leader. It was on a topic the majority leader knew well, so she didn't put time into polishing the speech.

Just before her boss was to deliver the speech he was called to the White House, and Ramonas was asked to step in and deliver the speech to 2,000 people, plus a C-Span television audience. She had to begin by explaining that if she had known she would be speaking, "I would have written a better speech."

During the Price ceremonies, honorary degrees were awarded to Dr. Cecelia Foxley, who recently stepped down after 10 years as Utah's commissioner of higher education, and to Donald Burge, who recently retired after more than 40 years as a professor and administrator at CEU. Rachel Ellen Jenson of Price and Candice Norris of South Jordan were honored as co-valedictorians on the Price campus. Both maintained 4.0 grade point averages in their associate degree work.

Thomas was the main speaker at Friday's exercises in Blanding, where 40 percent of the graduates are Navajo.

The Blanding campus awarded an honorary degree to San Juan Commissioner Manuel Morgan, a Navajo, for his work to advance education and health care in the county. Brenda Young, a mother of five, was honored as CEU-San Juan valedictorian, while Heidi Bailey was recognized as the salutatorian. Silvia Stubbs was honored as valedictorian of the USU Extension class.

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E-mail: sdean@manti.com; Contributing: Ken Hansen