"American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken walked across a different kind of stage this weekend for a distinctive honor — his college degree.
Aiken, who vaulted from obscurity to pop music stardom, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Saturday, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in special education.
"American Idol" has made Aiken a multiplatinum recording sensation, but he was just another face in the crowd at the graduation ceremony. His name was not mentioned until he walked across the stage, the last of 593 degree recipients.
Aiken later announced several initiatives by the Bubel Aiken Foundation, a charitable organization started this summer to help disabled children. Aiken was a mentor to Mike Bubel, a teenager with autism, while studying at UNCC.