Among the students who donned their cap and gown and walked in USC’s commencement ceremony last week was 78-year-old Robert Kroener. The retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and civil engineer earned his master’s degree from USC in 1971. He finished his course work in the summer and was called back to active duty before he was able to walk with his graduating class.
… He put in a total of 28 years in the Air Force. It wasn’t until reading a USC alumni magazine that he got the idea to ask about walking in a graduation ceremony. Kroener said he reached out to USC’s Marshall School of Business. A spokesperson for the school said, “Regardless of when you graduate, if you want to walk across that stage, we will welcome you back and we’ll do everything we can to make sure they get the credit and honor and to congratulate them in the way they deserve.” Kroener and his wife, Donna, drove from their home in Arizona to visit the campus for a walk down memory lane ahead of graduation.