For many, fireworks mean two things: either it’s the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day or it’s Independence Day with the smell of bar-b-que in the atmosphere. Maybe it’s fitting to add a third celebration to your fireworks repertoire. Today and tomorrow signify a special moment in many lives. It’s graduation time at Jackson State University and it marks a new start of independence for the many students who will walk across the stage.

Commencement exercises begin tonight at 6 p.m. with ceremonies for 300 graduate students at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center. The commencement address will be given by Marybeth Gasman, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Once the sun sets, there will be a fireworks display on the main campus between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. This festive show is the start of a new tradition at JSU to honor each of the university’s newest alumni.

On Saturday, it will be time for the undergraduate students to shine. 1,321 of them to be exact. Commencement exercises for these students will begin at 8 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium with Newark, NJ mayor, Cory A. Booker delivering the address.

This is the utmost time for celebration as we give our sincerest congratulations to a new class of JSU alumni.