Lecturer Jan Taylor delivers a sermon calling on grads to reflect on self-awareness during Maryville College Baccalaureate 2026
May 8, 2026
It hit the sports world with an explosive force that sent commentators, pundits and critics scrambling for the words to make sense of it … but in the end, it was a simple decision made with quiet determination, in full view of millions.
During Maryville College’s 2026 Baccalaureate service, held Friday, May 8, in the Clayton Center for the Arts to honor the Maryville College Class of 2026, lecturer in composition Jan Taylor opened her sermon not with a directive, but with a story: Olympic gymnast Simone Biles stepping away from competition at the height of expectation — not out of failure, but out of self-awareness.
“She listened to information coming from deep inside her,” Taylor told the assembled graduates, “and she trusted that enough to act on it.”
That idea — that the most important decisions are often guided not by external pressure, but by internal clarity — anchored a message that wove together stories of resilience, faith and reflection, urging members of the Class of 2026 to carry forward the habits they have developed and practiced during their time on College Hill.
Reflection and remembrance
Earlier in the service, senior class President Josh Cornell ’26 framed the moment in similarly reflective terms, describing the college experience as a tapestry of shared memories, relationships and growth.
“So where did all that time go?” the Political Science and Environmental Studies double major asked. “Honestly, it never really left us. Every hour we spent here is still alive in our memories with each other, and all the little moments that shaped who we are today.”
No doubt, Cornell — a Chattanooga, Tennessee, native — was reflecting on his own momentous milestones, including being named the Carl ’63 and Jean McDonald Outstanding Senior Award winner during last month’s Celebration of Student Achievement. Drawing on the traditional Scottish folk song “The Parting Glass,” Cornell offered a metaphorical toast to his classmates, capturing the bittersweet nature of the occasion — one defined as much by gratitude and connection as by transition.
“As we begin to part ways, it feels right to pause and simply say thank you,” he said. “Thank you for the laughs, the tears, the memories and the connections that will last far beyond this place.”
Taylor’s sermon, titled “As If It Were Nothing at All,” expanded on that sense of transition by challenging graduates to remain grounded in who they are — even as circumstances change.
Through the biblical story of Joseph and a personal reflection on navigating uncertainty while teaching yoga at a retreat far from home, she returned again and again to the idea of integrity as something internal and portable. Joseph, she reminded listeners, was betrayed by his brothers and brought up in slavery, but even in positions imposed upon him against his will, he stood true to himself and his relationship with God.
“His integrity traveled with him,” she said of Joseph. “Not a diminished version, not a performance calibrated to whoever held power over him. His integrity traveled with him. His gifts traveled with him. His capacity to listen, to interpret, to serve — none of that disappeared because his address changed.”
For graduates preparing to step into new environments, careers and communities, that message resonated as both reassurance and charge: that the habits of thought, reflection and discernment developed during their years at Maryville College are not complete, but ongoing. MC, Taylor implied, is simply the first stop of many, but the lessons learned, the knowledge gained, the wisdom developed in this place will make every subsequent stop one in which their own integrity can be drawn upon to both overcome and succeed.
“This kind of self-knowledge under pressure is not a trait,” Taylor said. “It’s a practice — the daily work of questioning what the world is telling you against what you actually know to be true. You have been doing that kind of work for four years … (and) that practice does not end at graduation. It deepens. And the world you are walking into will give you no shortage of moments to use it.”
A prelude to graduation
The service, which took place in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts, also included an opening prayer by College Chaplain Rev. Jessica Kitchens Lewis ’07 and scripture readings delivered by senior and past President of the Student Government Association Austin McKee ’26, a Writing Communication and Sociology double major from Maryville. McKee read from Matthew 14:23 and Proverbs 4:23, and in closing the Friday ceremony, senior and Isaac Anderson Scholar Stephanie Holt ’26 — an English (with teacher licensure) major from Lenoir City, Tennessee — read the traditional Prayer of Thanksgiving.
Maryville College President Bryan F. Coker recognized members of the College’s Board of Directors, including Board Chair Marcia Kilby ’89, as well as members of the Board of Church Visitors and the College’s faculty and staff.
Musical selections, including choral anthems by the Maryville College Concert Choir featuring soloists Ella Morse ’27 and Kalli Wilson ’27 on “Only in Sleep,” underscored the contemplative tone of the service, which serves as a spiritual and reflective complement to Commencement exercises, which take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 9.
In her closing moments, Taylor returned to a warning from philosopher Søren Kierkegaard — that “the greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.”
It is a risk, she noted, that only the individual can recognize and guard against, which the members of the Class of 2026 have been well-prepared to do. Living and working alongside peers with diverse opinions, honoring commitments in academics and athletics, taking on assignments that challenge and push: “You have been building that. Here. On the inside,” she said.
Quoting the book of Proverbs, she offered a final directive to the Class of 2026: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Everything.
“You have been practicing,” she said. “Keep going. We need you.”
