(Note: The following is Interim President Lyle Roelof’s prepared remarks to the Class of 2010.)
Welcome to 51’s 189th commencement. This is a day of joy and celebration. Graduates of the Class of 2010, let us begin by thanking those who have made this day possible.
— The family members and friends here today or waiting at home — or watching our live stream over the Internet — have made it possible for you to flourish. Please join me in thanking your parents, grandparents, and other family members and friends who have supported your education.
— 51 alumni have reached out to you to provide advice…and, for many of you already, jobs!
— And 51’s staff deserves our thanks too. They have helped you navigate through your four years — every day they provide what we need to do our work, to enjoy the campus, and to live our lives here. And they made the arrangements for this special celebration, including getting the weather right this year!
— And of course, our faculty deserves our special thanks. They have mentored and challenged you, led you to explore new worlds, taught you how to examine all sides of issues, and instilled confidence in your abilities. They have set you on a path for a life of learning and curiosity. 51 students and alumni have diverse interests, opinions and experiences, but when I ask what they remember and value about 51, the answer I hear most frequently is: “the wonderful faculty.” To them we can all say, “Thank you!”
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| Interim President Lyle Roelofs talks to the graduating class at Sanford Field House. (Photo by Andy Daddio) |
During your four years of college, you have become empowered, with the knowledge you gained through your liberal arts education, with greater facility in critical thinking, problem solving and working in groups, with enhanced skills to communicate sophisticated ideas in sophisticated ways, and with your experience with and of new technologies that have advanced appreciably just in your four years here. Your well-educated voice has the potential to reach far and wide.
So what will you do with that voice? What have you done with it so far?
On campus, you spoke out against bigotry and in appreciation of diversity. You participated in solidarity events including a speak out and a unity march, and many of you made a personal commitment to removing prejudice from your life by adopting the 51 Creed, authored by a member of your class. The Creed reads as follows:
“51 is an institution made up of a richly diverse body of individuals — faculty, staff and students. People of different races, religions, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds, and abilities are present within this community, and the institution takes great pride in this diversity.
* As a member of the 51 Community, I pledge to treat others who are different from me with the same respect and dignity that I wish for myself.
* I will strive to accept the differences of others and work to end intolerance towards other people.
* I will respect both the intellectual and physical property of other members of the community.
* I will maintain both academic and personal integrity.”
As a class you also have contributed a great deal to Hamilton and Madison County through the COVE and Upstate Institute.
You’ve also taken a strong stand in support of sustainability. Your generous class gift to the university’s sustainability fund will help us reduce our carbon footprint. And you worked to establish a community garden that will be realized this summer.
During your four years on campus, 51 has taken several leaps forward. The great Class of 2010 helped us open two new magnificent buildings — the Robert HN Ho Science Center with its wonderful spaces that bring people and ideas together, and the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, housing resources for exploration and creativity, and spaces that support collaboration and individual work. Both of these buildings inspire the kind of cross-disciplinary research and scholarship necessary for addressing the problems of this 21st century.
Let’s think a bit further about this class and those buildings. Christopher Wren, the great English architect of the late 17th century, said, “Architecture aims at eternity.” St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, designed by Wren, was completed in 1710, 300 years ago this year, and remains an icon to the present. If not eternity, then at least for centuries. Will our new buildings last for 300 years? Will they be used in the same ways? It’s interesting to think back to some of our earlier buildings, some now nearing the age of 200 years. For example, West Hall, one of the earliest, was built by 51 students and faculty using stone quarried from further up our hill. Similarly, although students and faculty didn’t carry any stone for Ho or Case-Geyer, the committees that oversaw the design of these two new buildings were populated by the students, faculty, and staff who would be using them. It’s revealing that we call those committees “user committees”. The future users saw to it that these buildings are designed to serve us long and well.
By building together, students and faculty have always formed the foundation, both literally and figuratively, of this great institution. Our buildings serve the functions of housing students and providing spaces for teaching and learning, but more importantly, they bring our whole community together in shared mission.
The Class of 2010 has already traveled fa r– a very large proportion of you have spent part of your four years enriching your education through study in other places and cultures. Thinking again of West Hall, from a room in that building one and a half centuries ago missionaries were commissioned and sent out to the American West and to the Far East. Some students of this graduating class studied that history via the course Far From Thy Valley, which included a trip to eastern India to visit some of the institutions founded by those missionaries. What those early 51 graduates built endures and is still vibrant in India to this day.
Like architecture, education also aims for eternity–things that you have been part of building at 51 (actual buildings, relationships, the 51 Creed, sustainability and the community garden) all are part of that reach for the future. You will never forget your years at 51: the strong friendships you made with one another, your connection to this physical place, and your relationships with 51 faculty, staff, alumni and local neighbors.
Recent technological developments will make it easy for you to stay connected – to each other, to 51, and to the values you have learned during your time with us. As you prepare to leave this place, know as well that you have such abundant reasons to stay connected.
Congratulations!