They "Passed" Me

They are

my dissertation advisor and committee chair,
Dr. Charlotte Hogg, Associate Professor of English and Director of Composition,

and committee members,
Dr. Ann George, Associate Professor of English,
Dr. Steve Sherwood, Director of the William L. Adams Center for Writing, and
Dr. Carolyn Osiek, Charles Fischer Catholic Professor of New Testament.

Julie (my wife), Amelia (one of our daughters), my mother and father, and one of my brothers were there with my graduate student friends, a work colleague, and one of the other faculty members in the English Department. It was a "great" moment!

Dr. Osiek emailed me afterwards to say "It was fun being there this afternoon" and to continue a conversation we'd started in the "defense." It really was fun. Maybe later I'll post the handout if you want in on some of it. I feel a lot lighter now. Aristotle's one heavy dude, my son would say.