MERRILLVILLE - The largest class ever to graduate from Indiana University Northwest took part in commencement exercises Monday afternoon at the Radisson Star Plaza Theater. This is the third consecutive year a record-number of graduates have filed through IUN's doors, according to the university's Office of News and Publications. The Class of 1995 was comprised of 838 graduates who received 115 master's degrees, 419 bachelor's degrees and 304 associate's degrees. Last year, 816 students graduated from IUN and 766 graduated in 1993. Two doctoral degrees were also given to two noted Northwest Indiana personalities. Robert Vodnoy, Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor, received the academic regalia signifying his recent completion of a doctorate of music. Author and humorist Jean Shepherd, a Hammond native, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Shepherd, best known as the author of the 1983 film, "A Christmas Story," has been compared to Mark Twain and Will Rogers. As graduates walked into the theater to the traditional "Pomp and Circumstance," played by the Indiana University Brass Quintets, many probably thought about the futures that lay beyond the theater's doors. And family and friends lined the lobby's walls and stairways to snap photos, to make home movies and to wish graduates luck as they filed by. Lorraine Graham, 33, of Hobart was one graduate who had already got a jump start on her new career. "I already have a job at Community Hospital," said Graham, who received a bachelor's degree in radiography. "I started today," she said. "It's a tough job market." Anna Navarro and family waited as her son, Thomas, walked to his place in the theater. "I'm very proud of him," she said of her 23-year-old son who received a bachelor's degree in accounting. "It's a hard thing. Just imagine how many kids are out there." After the processional, graduate students and family members stood at attention while soprano Angela Brown, a graduate student from the Indiana University School of Music, sang the "Star Spangled Banner." At the end of the ceremony, IUN President Myles Brand said his parting words to graduates whose tassels were now moved from right to left. "Even the greatest discovery was not made in a vacuum, and no one stands alone," said Brand, quoting Albert Einstein. Brand then asked graduates to stand up an applaud their families and friends for their support. All of the graduates set academic goals, "to overcome objects great and small," said Hilda Richards, IUN chancellor. "We are in a time producing more change than any in history. "The pace will only increase in the coming years. You are prepared for those changes. Your IUN experience has provided you with the basic skills to survive and even thrive in a changing world."