First I want to thank all of the people who have emailed me in support of my
earlier email regarding the poor behavior at UTC graduations. On the other
side of the issue, I received a message from a person who accused me of
being "elitist" and a "snob". This person obviously doesn't know that one
should debate the issue at hand, not attack the debater on a personal level.
Having been personally ridiculed by this person, I feel the need to share
some of my background with the UTC community in the hope of dispelling any
thoughts of snobbery, etc.

 

I am a native of Chattanooga, having been raised in the East Lake Courts, a
government housing project just off the freeway. The family income had to be
below a certain level in order to live there; i.e., we were poor. My father
was a painter with an eighth grade education; my mother didn't complete the
first grade. She taught herself to read and write after I was already gone
from the home. My older brother joined the Air Force before graduating from
high school. I graduated from Chattanooga Central High in the lower third of
my class in 1956 with no hope of ever going to college; I worked while in
school to help support myself. I was the first person in my family to
graduate from high school.

 

I don't want to bore you with the details covering the next 30+ years, so I
will fast-forward to 1983 when I entered UTC at the age of 45 to finish the
degree I had started 25 years earlier at UTK. When I received my degree in
1985, my parents and my brother were all in the arena to share the moment.
They didn't bring an air-horn, and I didn't hear them shouting as I walked
across the stage; does that mean they were not proud?

 

I am confident that there are a lot of people that came from harder
circumstances than I to earn their degree(s). That's not my point. My point
is the same as it was in my first email regarding this issue; my family
didn't let their joy infringe on others in the audience. It's called
manners, respect for others, and yes "upbringing". My mother had little
money and no formal education whatsoever, but she had manners. 

 

Michel Holder

 

Dr. Michel Elizabeth Holder, P.E.

Asst. Prof. of Electrical Engineering

315-F EMCS

UT Chattanooga

Chattanooga, TN 37403

Ofc.   (423) 425-4358

FAX   (423) 425-5229