T.C. Williams High School’s final graduating class walks the stage

The final graduating class of T.C. Williams High School celebrated their final Titan victory Saturday morning, as 888 graduates were handed diplomas at Chinquapin Park.

Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., said that the students have witnessed a profoundly difficult period, including COVID deaths, social unrest following the murder of George Floyd and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“Remember to stand up for your beliefs, but do it with civility and civil discourse,” Hutchings said. “It takes time to build dialogue while understanding our differences. We can still be bold and we can still be courageous, while practicing kindness as the hallmark of our advocacy.”

With the pandemic winding down, the graduates were asked to look at the bigger picture.

“Always remember, the greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose,” said T.C. Black Student Union President Fina Osei-Owusu, who quoted both Myles Munroe and Mark Twain. “Because the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. Every single one of you has been equipped with passion and created with a purpose… Your essential element is your purpose, and the very reason why you exist. It is what you’re here to fulfill. So, I asked all of you to look within.”

Graduate Mia Humphrey also sang to the audience her song, ‘Summer 17‘, which she wrote in quarantine last year.

“It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come together,” Humphrey said.

This year, equity reared its lens on T.C., which is the largest high school in Virginia. The school is known around the world for the 2000 movie Remember the Titans, which focused on its 1971 state championship-winning varsity football team that found greatness by working through racial adversity. However, the school’s namesake, former ACPS Superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams, was an ardent segregationist.

“What gives me hope is you,” school Principal Peter Balas told the sea of graduates in red, white and blue caps and gowns. “You have the voice and the means to change this world. You are Titans, and Titans rise up and take action. You’ve righted the wrongs of history and I know you won’t stop there.”

T.C. Williams High School graduated its first class in 1967, and will change its name to Alexandria City High School on July 1.

🔴🔵⚪🎓 It's official! Congratulations to the newly graduated @TCWTitans Class of 2021! #TitansRising #Titans2021 🎉 pic.twitter.com/538z3rAKSM

— Alexandria City Public Schools (@ACPSk12) June 12, 2021

Lining up and getting ready for the @TCWTitans Graduation!

Congrats #tcw2021 graduates! pic.twitter.com/9EPJtv1VI5

— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) June 12, 2021