Jane Derian of Mocksville stood on a knoll Saturday morning at the May Dell amphitheater on the Salem College campus, holding a bundle of white lilies that she would later give to her daughter, Katherine Derian, who was graduating with a master's degree in education.
"It's overwhelming how beautiful this place is," Derian said. "My children went to universities all over the place, with one even in Ireland, but Salem is so charming and so beautiful, it's like a fairy tale."
At 10 a.m., with a brass quintet's processional filling the air, the graduates walked down the curved, paved pathway to the amphitheater. The crowds cheered as their daughters — and some mothers — smiled and waved to their families.
The commencement exercise was the 239th for the college, founded in 1772, making it the oldest women's college in the nation, and the 13th oldest college overall.
Some 133 graduates received bachelor's degrees; 56 received master's degrees.
Gwynne Stephens Taylor, a 1972 graduate and a member of the board of trustees, told the graduates: "Whether you are 21 or 81, you will live a fuller, richer life because of your Salem experience."
The commencement speaker was Eleanor Smeal, author and president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, who told them: "You're ready, you're trained, and you're needed" in the world.
She urged the graduates to "keep the doors open for the next generation."
"We want you to run for office," she told them. "We want you to be at the decision-making tables."
Ama Serwaa Frimpong, 21, a double major in international business and Spanish, will attend Wake Forest University School of Law in the fall. She is originally from Ghana, but lived in Gaithersburg, Md., before coming to Salem.
"When I was dropped off in Winston-Salem, it seemed to me like a slower pace of life. Trees were everywhere, and it just seemed like backward country. Now, I have really fallen in love with Winston-Salem, and I will be here for the next three years. I'd love to stay here the rest of my life."
Her classes and professors at Salem have "led me into the light," Frimpong said.
"Salem is a very diverse community, and it challenges you. It opens you up; you learn so much. I can't put it into words, but Salem is where I grew to know myself."
Graduate Lindsay Tharpe, 22, of Elkin is finalizing the details of a job offer from the Department of Defense, in which she will work on a military base in Kabul, Afghanistan. She got the job by networking during an internship in Washington last summer.
"Salem does not teach knowledge for the sake of knowledge," Tharpe said. "They have taught me how to put my education to use. They helped me learn what I am passionate about."
She said she loves that Winston-Salem is so embracing of its college students, and that she enjoys everything from Dash baseball games to downtown food and entertainment.
Joe and Amanda Cole of Claudville, Va., were there to see their daughter, Carol Cole, 21, graduate. She plans a career in restaurant management.
"She chose Salem because of the atmosphere of small classes, so she would not be one of 300 in a huge classroom," Amanda Cole said.
Kim Walser, 29, who will graduate next May, came to graduation ceremonies to cheer on her fellow classmates. Walser works full time in the risk-management department at Wells Fargo Bank, and she goes to classes during lunch hours and at night.
"I love the small quaint classrooms and the wonderful interactions with professors," Walser said.
Brittany Tedrick, president of the Class of 2011, told her "Salem sisters" that they should continue living out challenges and "testing everything."
"We are now packed up, excited and nervous, ready to go out into the world," Tedrick said. "We are going to show the world what it means to be a strong Salem woman. We are an epic class."
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