Regent Andrew Richner (left) and Chancellor Juan Mestas present jazz musician Billy Taylor with an honorary doctorate of music May 4 during U-M-Flint’s Spring Commencement. More than 500 graduates walked at commencement while family and friends filled every seat in Flint’s IMA Sports Arena. Taylor said students today have a better opportunity to learn jazz because more musicians than ever before are teaching in schools. “Jazz has gone into the schools,” he said. “Nightclubs where jazz was played don’t exist like they did 30 years ago.” Taylor recently visited schools in Detroit and Flint. “I am amazed at the talent that is here,” he said. Taylor is a member of the International Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame and has received two Peabody journalism awards, an Emmy, and a Doris Duke Millennium Award for Modern Dance and Jazz Music. (Photo by Mel Serow, U-M Flint)