Not able to be in two places at once

Gail Murphy had a dilemma.

The mother of twins thought she had to make a hard decision after the date for graduation was changed at Oregon State University from Saturday, June 16, to Sunday, June 17. You see, the mother had already made plans for Sunday.

One of the twins, Colleen, was to graduate from Portland State University on Sunday with a bachelor’s in business administration management and human resources management, while her sister Meara was to graduate from OSU with a master’s in physical education teacher education.

But  changing the date so that first lady Michelle Obama could provide the commencement address made it so that the family couldn’t be in both places at once.

“Changing the date threw a wrench into our joy in celebrating our daughters’ successes,” Gail Murphy said. “We didn’t want to split the family.”

Gail Murphy wrote President Ed Ray asking if there was something that could be done. Ray responded to the email, and passed it on to Kent Kuo, who made arrangements so that Colleen could receive her diploma from Portland State here at OSU.

“It made our day. Kent Kuo bent over backwards for us,” Gail Murphy said.

The two twins will be sitting together at commencement and are thankful that the family didn’t get split up for graduation.

“We’re very excited and surprised she’ll be able to sit with me. It’s a great day for both of us,” Meara Murphy said.

Gail Murphy especially appreciates  how quickly  Ray responded to her request and says so much about the university.

“We didn’t want to have to chose one daughter over the other. We are all excited to hear Michelle Obama,” Gail Murphy said.

Don Iler, managing editor
news@dailybarometer.com
On Twitter: @doniler