Han Solo and Chewbacca Cutouts Make Stay-at-Home Graduation Guest List for Texas State Student

Commencement ceremonies for Texas State University students will all be via virtual means in 2020. However, two students took part in a Star Wars-themed ceremony of sorts on May 16 to celebrate graduating. Ariel Gardner graduated from Texas State’s School of Nursing, and her parents, Jimmy and Debbie, held a ceremony in her honor, with her younger brother, Sebastian, on MC duties for the day. Also graduating that day was Ariel’s boyfriend, Gio, with a bachelor of science in advertising. The guest list included Gardner’s parents, as well as Ana Berry, the best friend of Gardner’s mother who posted footage of the ceremony to Twitter. Joining them in the celebrations were large cardboard cutouts of Star Wars fan favorites Han Solo and Chewbacca. While on a number of fold-out chairs nearby, the ceremony was also witnessed by a selection of signed headshots of actors from the space saga, including Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, and Anthony Daniels. Speaking to Storyful, Berry noted that Gardner has “accepted a job in Dallas as an ER nurse and we are so very proud of her.” Credit: Ana Berry via Storyful