Starting May 7, Clemson will hold another round of graduation ceremonies, during which thousands of students will take their long-awaited walk across the stage. One by one, names will echo through the arena, nerves will become smiles and years of hard work will culminate in the highly sought-after diploma.

But for seniors Mason Chizhik and Evan Cowell, a diploma won’t be the only physical representation of their success on graduation day. The pair has the unique ability to say they were involved in the production of the lectern from which every future graduate’s name will be announced.

The lectern, on which new Clemson University President Bob Jones will deliver his inaugural commencement address in May, was originally created in 2010 by seven students. Those seven students were part of a class taught by Joey Manson, principal lecturer of art and a member of the art department since 2002.

Then-Clemson University President Jim Barker commissioned the project. Students Jeramy Brackett, Eric Burress, Kamilah Campbell, Anna Eckert, Mackenzie Ervin, Carla Landa and Gerardo Santana were given full control over the construction and design of the lectern.

“All the wood on the lectern is from the University, like right on campus,” Chizhik explained in an interview with The Tiger. “So there’s like a maple tree from the president’s house in the middle of campus. There’s another persimmon tree from the president’s house. There’s oak from around campus. So everything was, was completely taken, chopped from trees on campus, and was used in the design.”

In their efforts to source natural materials for the original lectern locally, Manson and his students had to collaborate with other Clemson departments to prepare the wood for use. Every detail of the initial design was carefully considered.

“The logs were sawn with a bandsaw mill and dried by my students. We got to use the forestry department wood kiln,” Manson said.

Manson and his students didn’t foresee the lectern’s long-term impact. It was never intended to become an immortal staple of Clemson’s most prestigious ceremonies. Now, the lectern has been a staple at graduations for over 100,000 students since 2010.

As wood often does with time and use, the lectern had begun to show significant wear — something the University recognized. So, they passed down the project to Richard Owens, who works with Clemson’s department of planning, design and construction. It was through Owens that Chizhik and Cowell were given the opportunity to work on something bigger than themselves.

“We were given the project in the basketball stadium in a dark little corner, and we met with Mr. Rick Owens, and he walked us through what was kind of wrong with it,” Cowell said.

“They were like, ‘it’s beat up. It needs some love.’ So we took it, and they just said, ‘clean it, add to it, fix it. Do whatever you want,’” Chizhik said. “It needed some refurbishing. That’s exactly what Evan and I did.”

The first step, as the duo explained, was “to make it look new again.” The lectern bore scars earned through years of transport through underground hallways and the backs of trucks. The hands of Clemson’s leaders had rested on it for hundreds, if not thousands, of hours, leaving it heavily scratched, dulled and stripped of the original shine it once had.

When it was handed off to Chizhik and Cowell, it hardly looked like a centerpiece worthy of honoring the countless achievements of Clemson students.

Scratches, bumps, cuts and cracks were addressed first, as Chizhik and Cowell diligently sanded down the fragile wood, careful not to steal or defame the identity originally created by Manson’s students.

Instead of applying a stain, tung oil, a natural oil derived from tung trees, was applied once areas were deemed smooth enough because “that was what was originally used,” Chizhik explained.

Once the lectern was pretty again, Chizhik and Cowell had some technical difficulties to sort out. The top of the lectern, where printed speeches typically reside, was cracked and outdated. And there were two tennis ball-sized holes drilled into the surface — originally installed for microphone and light wiring — that no longer served a purpose.

That was when an opportunity for creativity presented itself.

“We thought, when looking at the lectern, there’s nothing that really screams Clemson. There’s nothing. No branding, no tiger paws, anything like that,” Chizhik said.

If you didn’t know any better, the podium could have been from a courthouse in Arkansas. That is no longer the case.

“So we put the Presidential seal, which represents graduation and the president, whoever’s speaking at the time, and that’s just like the symbol of the University. And then we put the Tiger Paw to really have it just read as, like, a Clemson project,” Chizhik said.

With great attention to detail, Chizhik and Cowell laser-engraved the emblems into circular wood pieces cut from the same wood, added them to the lectern, then flattened and sanded the surface until it was completely flush.

“I think it’s the coolest part of the project. It gives it the Clemson life, the Clemson glow, I guess, that wasn’t on it before,” Cowell said.

All in all, the project took almost the entire semester and was completed just in time for Chizhik and Cowell to participate in its maiden ceremony.

“I think it’s super meaningful that we were the ones to work on it, and then we’ll be walking across the stage and getting to shake hands, get our diploma right in front of the lectern that we made,” Chizhik said.

But even beyond use in the spring 2026 graduation ceremony, Chizhik and Cowell’s project will be at the heart of generations of Clemson graduations. That isn’t something many people can say. Although invisible to the public, there will be a plaque placed inside the lectern to briefly tell the lectern’s story and list the names of those involved with the project.

Chizhik and Cowell, longtime friends, were assigned a similar project about a year ago. In retrospect, that project might have been the prerequisite that qualified them for a much larger stage, literally.

It all began with Chizhik founding Clemson’s Design Build Club in 2024. Chizhik serves as president, while Cowell serves as vice president. The club was part of Chizhik’s vision to “teach students how to do this all (woodworking) safely and have fun,” he said.

Soon after, Chizhik, Cowell and a few other members were entrusted by the University with building benches using 132-year-old wood from Tillman Hall’s original construction during its renovations.

Today, those benches sit in Tillman Hall with plaques bearing the names of their creators.

By complete chance, Chizhik and Cowell were placed as freshman-year suitemates. Today, they are best friends and an even better team in the woodshop.

As an architecture major and an engineering major, respectively, Chizhik and Cowell come from backgrounds that complement one another perfectly. Additionally, working together in the shop has strengthened the two’s relationship outside of it.

“Being able to collaborate on two projects has been super nice. It’s obviously strengthened our relationship as friends and, I guess, like teammates,” Chizhik said. “But it’s nice to share this with someone, especially that you’re close with.”

Now, with the curtain primed and ready to drop on their crown jewel piece, Chizhik and Cowell are honored to contribute to Clemson’s age-old graduation tradition. Simultaneously, however, the pair might have just created a tradition of their own.

“Wood is bound to crack. It’s bound to get scratched when you’re transporting across campus,” Cowell said. “Our hope is that somebody will follow in our footsteps, keep it looking good, take a little bit of pride in the school, and put your name on something.”

Separately, both Chizhik and Cowell told The Tiger they plan to show their achievements to their families — the ultimate demonstration of school spirit. Chizhik even said he might try to reach out and touch the lectern when his name is called in about two weeks’ time.

But all things considered, the work and impacts of Chizhik and Cowell on Clemson University are more than worth recognizing.

Typically, a university’s role is to leave its students better than it found them. But in the case of Chizhik and Cowell, that relationship has been quietly reversed. The two seniors can now say they didn’t just benefit from the University, but helped shape it, leaving it better than they found it.