MARSHALL — For more than a year, students at Southwest Minnesota State University have had to adapt to quickly-changing conditions, President Kumara Jayasuriya said. From suddenly switching to distance learning last spring, to all the changes and disruptions that the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it over the past academic year, seniors that graduated Saturday had been through a lot — and succeeded.

“You are one of the most resilient graduating classes of SMSU. Not even a global pandemic could stop you,” Jayasuriya said this week in a recorded address for the class of 2021.

Over the course of the past week, speakers like Jayasuriya and members of SMSU’s charter graduating class of 1971 all congratulated new grads on being able to adapt to challenging times. For COVID-19 safety reasons, this year’s commencement speakers all recorded video messages that were shared with students each day of graduation week.

For the class of 2021, the past year should be remembered not for what students lost because of the pandemic, but for how they were able to respond, Jayasuriya said.

“Again, you prevailed and have achieved at the finish line of graduation. We’re enormously proud of you all — proud of the way you have adapted, proud of the way you have helped each other and proud of the way you have persevered,” he said.

In their messages, SMSU alumni told new graduates they had something in common with the charter class of 1971. Charter class member Jerry Bly said being able to adapt to new situations was something he had to deal with in college, as did the class of 2021.

“In 1967, we arrived at a time of great promise. The university was literally brand new, and still being built. Our future, and the university’s, was a blank canvas,” Bly said. “We had to adapt very quickly to what was going on around us. Things were in a constant state of change, but we did adapt, a quality that’s helped me my entire career.”

“You are to be applauded for your resiliency,” said charter class member Mary Frandson. While charter class students had to adapt to changing situations 50 years ago, the experience was also exciting and special, she said. Charter class students helped directly shape SMSU — for example, by choosing the school colors and writing the university’s fight song. “I hope that you feel special today too. These last 14 months have been difficult for you.”.

Jayasuriya said he had a few pieces of advice for new graduates. He encouraged graduates to follow their hearts and intuition in life, and not to give up when facing complex problems. Graduates should also learn from the past year, and remember that novel problems need novel solutions, he said.

As the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jayasuriya said, “Applying existing solutions to new problems made us lose precious time. Sometimes we have to get out of our old way and approach a new problem with new thinking.”

The class of 2021 could be proud of everything they achieved in their time at SMSU, he said.

“I have seen what you can accomplish. You are more than ready to face any challenge,” he said.