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Graduation 2005

Very Important Parents attend son's graduation

A local politician, a best-selling author and a head of state were on hand at Eckerd College.

By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
Published May 23, 2005

	[Times photos: James Borchuck]
	Eckerd College president Donald Eastman III, left, gives his congratulations to Charles Gyude Bryant III at the college's commencement Sunday. Bryant is the son of Chairman Gyude Bryant, the interim president of Liberia.
	Rosie-Lee Bryant and her husband Liberian leader Gyude Bryant looked on as their son, Charles, received a bachelor's degree from Eckerd College.

ST. PETERSBURG - Police boats skimmed the water and beefy security guards in black suits ringed the tents at Eckerd College's Sunday graduation ceremony.

Was it because popular novelist Dennis Lehane was on hand to receive an honorary degree?

Nope.

Or maybe that St. Petersburg Council member Rene Flowers was earning her bachelor's degree?

Not at all.

It was because a head of state was present: Chairman Gyude Bryant, the interim president of Liberia, a nation located between Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast in West Africa.

Bryant was there to cheer on his son, Charles Gyude Bryant III, who was given his bachelor's degree in business management along with 506 other students at the 8 a.m. ceremony.

The younger Bryant, also the school's star basketball rebounder, sat and joked with friends in the front row under the big tent. The elder Bryant, his wife and a host of family members had front-row, VIP seats.

Charles Bryant, 24, born in Virginia, doesn't often speak to the media about his family's ties to Liberia, a nation created when formerly enslaved black Americans left the United States and returned to Africa to create a new country.

Known for its diamonds and timber, Liberia had been in a vicious civil war for 14 years until former President Charles Taylor was exiled in 2003 to Nigeria, where he is now wanted by several governments under charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. Meanwhile, Bryant's dad was made interim president until a new leader is elected in October.

"I try to keep all that under wraps, to tell the truth," said the younger Bryant, who plans to work in a car sales business in Sarasota after graduation.

The first lady Rosie-Lee Bryant told a Times reporter she was "proud" of her son's accomplishments.

Lehane, who wrote the best-selling Mystic River , alternatively joked with and chided the crowd in his commencement speech. Lehane graduated from Eckerd in 1988. He warned the students that all 20-year-olds are "idiots."

"I hate to break this news to you," Lehane said, prompting a chorus of laughter from the audience. He went on to say the real characteristics of "boot strap" Americans are empathy and mercy - not prejudice.

He cautioned students to think of the bigger picture and to not be sucked in by a money mentality.

"It's not about the money, it's about honor and whether you have any," said Lehane, who suggested students act with dignity and respect in all situations.

Lehane received a key to the city from Flowers, who also gave a short speech about being a part of a special bachelor's degree program for working adults.

--Adrienne Samuels can be reached at 727 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 23, 2005, 04:54:44]