Posted 8:23 a.m. Wednesday, May 14, 2014
College students throughout the country were asked to tuck away their smartphones as they crossed the commencement stage. UW-L Chancellor Gow did the opposite — snapping a selfie at both UW-L graduation ceremonies.
College students throughout the country were asked to tuck away their smartphones as they crossed the commencement stage this graduation season. In the age of the selfie, administrators didn’t want too many self portraits slowing down the procession.
UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow did the opposite during his university’s ceremonies Sunday, May 11, at the La Crosse Center. Gow pulled out his smartphone during each ceremony to snap a selfie in front of the entire audience. He said he wanted to share the photo with his mother on Mother’s Day.
"I don't have any issues with students having fun at commencement time, and thought I'd enjoy having a photo of my own," Gow said.
Gow’s selfie has already received more than 1,200 likes on the university’s facebook page.
Many popular figures have snapped selfies this year. Ellen DeGeneres shared a selfie with a crowd of celebrities at the Oscars and President Obama captured one with other world leaders at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Oxford University Press declared “selfie” the word of the year in 2013.