Required masking and social distancing feel like a not-so-distant memory to the Class of 2024. Many of Christ School's seniors began their time here under safety precautions necessitated by the unknown of COVID-19.
And no one could have foreseen the devastating heartache that the night of April 6 would bring upon the school community. Since then, the students and faculty have been galvanized in honoring a fallen brother, RJ Fox ’25, and all his aspirations.
Hardship and change. Two of life’s necessary evils for any graduating class, but these Greenie seniors truly tapped into the essence of the Long Green Line by adapting and enduring it.
UNC-Chapel Hill Morehead-Cain Scholar Tony Murphy ’24 referenced the events and more in his graduation talk Sunday.
“I look out over that section of green blazers and ask myself, ‘What would I change about my journey?” Tony said.
“If I could start over again, I couldn’t think of a thing. Just because if I were ever to go through something like we have in our time here, I couldn’t think of a better group of guys I would want to go through it with. We are a class that knows how to adapt. This comes from both what Christ School has instilled in us, but mainly because it is simply who we are.”
Tony and the rest of the Class of 2024 earned $4.2 million in scholarships. They will attend colleges and universities in 17 states, plus Washington D.C. and Canada. Fifty-three percent of the class will attend a school in North Carolina or South Carolina.
A record 27 Greenies committed or signed to play college sports.
Tony and Teacher of the Year William Ballenger gave addresses Sunday as the result of a student vote. The message of Mr. Ballenger’s speech was to put love first in all personal interactions.
Seniors who received their diplomas and Bibles on Sunday were in alphabetical order: Elijah Abundis, Mason Atwater, Reese Ballard, Parker Beiland, Whitford Birthright, Leighton Blount, Cole Boyer, Jamari Briggs, Turner Brooks, Kaden Brown, Bradley Campbell, Reeves Cates, Li Hong Chen, Bryson Cokley, Charlie Collins, Carter Compton, Khalil Conley, Patterson Dew, Ambrose Ehlers, Collin Enders, Ben Fedder, Noah Fleming, Luke Garner, Eyob Gill, Gavin Gosnell, Jake Gravley, TJ Hamilton, Josh Harrison, Noah Henthorn, Mason Heth, Noah Hunt, Jakob Iwanek, Jake Jarrett, Luke Jennings, Hardy Johnson, Cayden Jones, Briggs Kroeger, Leo Lagutin, Kevin Li, James Lilly, Lucas Little, Wyatt Love, Ben Lucas, Vincent Lytle, Jake Matthews, James Mennell, Davis Mohorn, Tony Murphy, Byron Park, Ashton Parker, Luke Parrish, William Paschall, Chandler Piao, Jozohn Price, Weder Qin, Dawson Reeves, Brendan Regan, George Robbins, Ethan Rose, Cole Schwarz, Jace Self, Henry Stuart, Lleyton Thomas-Johnson, Tyler Thompson, Patrick Wang, Henry Warner, Bruce White, Jacob Wilde, Keenan Wilkins, Calvin Williams, Mark Yee, and Bill Zhou.
"Whatever choices you make, whatever passion and interests you pursue, remember what you take with you from here," Head of School Dr. Jenkins said in his speech to the graduates.
"While at Christ School, you learned independence, honor, civility, and humility. You learned to work hard, to set high expectations, and serve the common good. You don't leave this culture behind you, you take it with you to all those communities, careers, and people ahead in your lives. You take the best of this place with you on your road ahead. You also learned discipline and responsibility at Christ School, accountability. Ahead is your opportunity to use it in the world, to advance your own lives, better the lives of others as well as the institutions you will join and eventually lead."