Summer 2005

A Picture Perfect Celebration

Record Number of Graduates and Guests for 2005 Commencement Ceremonies on the Ellipse

More than 23,000 graduates and guests — one of the largest crowds in The George Washington University’s 14-year history holding commencement on the Ellipse — enjoyed spectacular weather and inspirational addresses from leaders among broadcast and print journalism, physics, and medical research.

Three-time Emmy Award-winning CBS News commentator Andy Rooney had a rare opportunity while receiving his honorary degree. Alexis Rooney Perkins, who received her bachelor of arts degree in history from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), presented her grandfather for his Doctor of Public Service.

“I’ve been looking forward to being here at The George Washington University for several weeks now,” Rooney said referring to Perkins. “I think we’re all after what little bit of immortality we can get for ourselves and, even if I’m not very good today, every young person graduating will remember me for the rest of his or her life. You’ll be saying, ‘Remember what’s his name on your graduation?’ ”
Rooney reminded graduates the time had come for them to decide what they’re going to do with their lives. He recommended choosing a job based on passion rather than compensation, and he suggested they look into careers such as science and technology, politics, economics, teaching, journalism, writing, and Foreign Service.

“There’s no shortage of things that need to be done in the world,” Rooney explained. “On the other hand, there is a shortage of capable people to do those jobs… Our economic system could use some help, if there are any economists among you, capitalism has gone berserk. It isn’t working. There are too many rich people and too many poor people. You don’t have to be a communist to think that.”

“Whatever you do,” he added, “I hope you set out to make something other than money. There’s a lot to be done in education. Maybe you could teach.”

Megan Dixon, who received her bachelor of arts in physics from CCAS cum laude, presented Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Institute Professor and professor of physics and electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for a Doctor of Sciences, honoris causa.

Dresselhaus reminded the audience that 2005 is the World Year of Physics, and joked that she was an excellent choice for her honorary degree.

“I feel very strongly that it’s important that women be recognized in science for what they do in science, and through that they can have an impact on improving the conditions and opportunities for women to work in science.”

She added that as society advances in the 21st century, many of the world’s problems will require a new fellowship of people to solve them. “They include energy, the environment, and the economy, all very important, not only in the US but everywhere, worldwide,” explained Dresselhaus. “To make progress in these fields we need some more science and technology.”

The Miami Herald Publisher Alberto Ibargüen was presented for his Doctor of Letters by Joshua Rosenbatt, who received his bachelor of arts in political communication from CCAS summa cum laude.

“[The news media] is an essential part of the balance in a democracy,” said Ibargüen. “And there is a fabulous future there for you because the function of informing a democratic community continues to be necessary even if the path is uncharted, since the method of delivery is changing rapidly as we move from ink on paper and network television to all sorts of new media. … I hope that the values that are taught here of intellectual integrity, of free speech, and of honest open inquiry should never leave you.”

Shafkat Anwar, BA ’01, who received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, presented Dr. Philip K. Russell, for his honorary Doctor of Public Service degree. Russell, who served in the US Army Medical Corps from 1959 to 1990 and is a renowned infectious disease and tropical medicine researcher, asked the graduating class to consider careers in the public sector and in public service.

“There are many, many careers out there in medicine, in science, in law, in the social studies and politics that are intellectually challenging and can be intensely rewarding and very valuable to society. I urge you to seriously consider them because I believe that as we go forward into the 21st century the world will need your leadership to face the problems of our increasingly globalized society and all the perils that are out there.”

“I’m alive,” President Trachtenberg said opening his traditional Charge to the Graduates. They were words written by Robert F. Worth, a reporter for The New York Times, and published on April 18, but they first were spoken by aid worker and founder of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict Marla Ruzicka, as she lay fighting for her life along a dusty roadside in Iraq moments after her car was destroyed by a suicide bomber.

“It is possible, even plausible, to believe that Marla Ruzicka said ‘I’m alive’ because she was so badly damaged or so delusional that she could not comprehend that she was dying. But it is also possible and, I think not unreasonably hopeful, to believe that Marla Ruzicka felt she was alive and would continue to live through the work she had done for others, the aid and comfort she had provided to others, the service to others that had been her life.

“It is I know impossible for all of us to commit our lives to the service and aid of others, as Marla Ruzicka did. Someone has to make the shoes, produce the food, weave the blankets. Most of us are not as brave as she was. And we can add that the world is a dangerous place and, as that great Israeli statesman Abba Eban once said, ‘There won't be peace in the world until we love our children more than we hate our enemies.’ ”

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