Raider grads fit big messages into a small space

It’s a small space — 9.5 by 9.5 inches, 90.25 square inches — but many of the nearly 900 Southern Oregon University graduates in attendance at Saturday’s commencement ceremony took advantage of the moment, perched on the cusp of finishing one of life’s chapters with beginning another, to do some succinct summing up atop their mortarboards. From dismissive to inspirational, political to philosophical, personal to universal, students packed potent meaning into just a few words or images. Here are a sampling as photographed by Bob Palermini.