As the calendar flips to April and the campus continues to hint at Spring, thoughts on the William Woods campus naturally start turning toward Commencement, the culmination of the academic year. And while The Woods has had many memorable graduation ceremonies through the years, including having a future U.S. President, Missouri Governor, and a current U.S. Senator among the prominent individuals who have delivered the commencement address, few of those moments could match the speaker thirteen years ago this Spring.
That was the year that actor Val Kilmer, star of iconic Hollywood productions like “Top Gun,” “The Doors,” “Batman” and “Tombstone” among his 50 plus films, delivered the commencement address to the Class of 2012 at The Woods.
Kilmer, 65, passed away yesterday, leaving a lifetime of unforgettable roles from his more than four decades on the silver screen. But for those who love The Woods, his most memorable moment will always be the part he played on the first Saturday of May in 2012, when he sent off the graduating class at WWU with advice to live by.
“Never forget the importance of believing – and listening,” Kilmer said from the podium that day inside Cutlip Auditorium, in front of approximately 500 graduates, their families, WWU faculty and staff. “Pretend you are great! Act as if you are great, unique and special. At the very least, you’ll have some laughs!”
Kilmer accepted the offer to deliver the commencement address at the invitation of then-WWU President Dr. Jahnae Barnett. Dr. Barnett and her husband, Eddie, became friendly with Kilmer in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where both owned land at the time. And not only did Kilmer come to Fulton for commencement, but he actually spent several days on campus and in town, performing as Missouri’s homegrown author and humorist Mark Twain in “Citizen Twain” to a sold-out audience at Dulany Auditorium on May 1, doing a question/answer session and posing for photos with students, and even shopping in local book and antique stores in downtown Fulton.
In recognition of his lifetime work in film and theatre, the William Woods faculty also presented Kilmer with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts.
Jason Cavallone ’12, who graduated with a degree in Theatre that day, said Kilmer’s decision to perform “Citizen Twain” on the William Woods campus a few days before graduation gave him and other Theatre majors a valuable opportunity to work closely with Kilmer and his staff and see how professionals do business.
The same could be said for Shaun Speers ’07, who also graduated from WWU with a Theatre degree. Speers, the current, longtime technical services technician for The Woods, assisted with the technical work of Kilmer’s production, and remembers him as a real perfectionist.
“He was demanding and had a definite agenda, but also fair,” remembered Speers of that week 13 years ago.
It is said that Hollywood actors never really die, but instead live on in eternity through their roles on the big screen. Val Kilmer would seem to be ensured of such immortality, after portraying some of the most enduring movie characters in recent memory. But other folks, those in the William Woods orbit, will always remember him in another way.
That time the famous Hollywood star spent a few days on campus, and touched countless lives, during one long-ago Springtime at The Woods.
