|
|
|
June 2008
A Capitol Commencement for the Class of 2008
The United States Capitol and Washington Monument set the stage as some 25,000 graduates, families, and friends gathered on the National Mall for the University’s Commencement, held May 18. Commencement speakers—including NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and GW President Steven Knapp—urged graduates to use their education to effect social change and advocate for civil rights. Student speakers Sara Ray, B.A. ’08, and Christine Handy, Ed.D. ’08, gave impassioned remarks encouraging their classmates to move forward with civility and integrity. Bond, in a stirring keynote address, described how his grandfather, who was born a slave, set off on a trek across Kentucky in the late 1870s with the hope of getting an education. “At age 15, barely able to read or write, he hitched his tuition—a steer—to a rope and walked 100 miles across the state to Berea College, and the college took him in,” said Bond, adding that his grandfather was chosen to deliver the college’s commencement address when he graduated 13 years later. “You too graduate at an historic time and in an historic place,” Bond told the audience. “Forty-five years ago more than a quarter of a million people gathered here on this mall to march for jobs and freedom and to hear the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King tell the nation of his dream,” said Bond, who was present for King’s landmark 1963 speech. “As we honor you graduates today for what you have achieved, so should you honor them for what they achieved for you,” he said. “Wherever you may go from here—if there are hungry minds or hungry bodies nearby, you can feed them. If there are precincts of the powerless poor nearby, you can organize them. If there is racial or ethnic injustice, you can attack and destroy it,” said Bond. “I hope that you will do well—but I hope you will also do good.” In his first charge to graduates as the University’s president, Knapp spoke about the opportunities awaiting the Class of 2008 and urged them to live lives “rich with meaning and powerful in contribution. “You have the potential to become our future leaders and can make a real difference in this world,” said Knapp. “And, as you go forth, always carry GW with you, and always regard GW as your intellectual and cultural home in the heart of the nation’s capital.” In addition to Bond, who received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree, President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and former GW Chairman of the Board of Trustees Charles T. Manatt, J.D. ’62, received honorary degrees at the University-wide ceremony. Two other leading public servants—Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, M.P.A. ’86, and Sen. Daniel Inouye, J.D. ’52—received honorary degrees and delivered keynote addresses at school ceremonies. At the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences celebration held in the Charles E. Smith Center May 17, McConnell discussed the ever-changing role of intelligence and his hopes for the graduates. “Sincerest congratulations to you all, the graduates, for your achievements and for what you’re about to enter in this next phase of your life,” said McConnell. “You have chosen a wonderful university. You’re fortunate enough to live in a wonderful country, and I wish you the very best as you go forward.” Inouye received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the Law School Diploma Ceremony, held at the Charles E. Smith Center the afternoon of May 18. In his speech, Inouye discussed how the Declaration of Independence’s promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” has been tested over time, detailing the progress made since he and other Japanese Americans faced discrimination during World War II. He urged the graduates to continue this progress. “You have the opportunity to step forward, and take some important steps to advance the words of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and our other founding fathers,” said Inouye. “I hope some of you will seriously consider public service. Through you, we can make life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness much more of a reality.”
|
|
||
