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President Creighton, colleagues, honored guests, family and friends, and of course, the class of 2005: Good evening and welcome. I want to first extend my heartiest congratulations to the outstanding class of 2005 on all of your accomplishments over the last few years. I would also like to express to you my deepest thanks and appreciation for your kind invitation to address you tonight—it is an honor that means more to me that you could possibly imagine. To be here, sharing this moment with your families and friends is so incredible, for I know how critical they’ve been to your success. I just love seeing the relief and delight on your parents’ faces at not having to pay any more tuition! But to see all of you together, ready to take on the world with your keen intelligence, your grit, and your compassion is indeed a privilege that we will not soon forget. When I first began to think about what I would say tonight, I must admit I was a bit anxious. I wondered if I would be limited to eight minutes, just like my students are when doing class presentations. More importantly, is there anything I could possibly say that would not make me sound like Yoda or Obi-wan Kenobi and expose me as the Star Wars nerd that I am? What I did in the end was simply draw inspiration from all of you and the many conversations we shared inside and outside the classroom. In reflecting on what promises to be a glorious new chapter in your lives, what is so striking to me is how different that larger, so called “real” world you will soon be joining is from the one our parents and grandparents knew. Many scholars suggest that the pressures driving this change—ones often described collectively as globalization—are breaking down old boundaries and forcing us to rethink and recast the economic, social, and political relationships that had previously defined our lives. Some like Kenichi Ohmae argue that the newly emerging “borderless world” will allow us to finally become global citizens, while others like Benjamin Barber and Thomas Friedman warn that many of us will be bound by darker, more parochial forces. Whether you agree with them or not, our future appears to be one that is increasingly riddled with sharp differences and conflict over values and identities. In such a world of political and cultural wars, the choices left to us seem stark. More and more there are people who insist upon, even demand, our allegiance. They want us to take sides: they tell us that we are either for them or against them, that there are no other alternatives. However, I ask you to remember that there is always another way, one based on the traditions of openness, tolerance, and inclusion that have been and continue to be so central to the Mount Holyoke experience. Do not give in to absolutes and Manichean ways of understanding the world; rather, I hope you will rise above such simplistic approaches and always, always be true to yourselves. To be true to yourselves is no easy task. Often, it means resisting the labels and boxes others want to put you in like liberal, conservative, doctor, teacher, plumber, soldier, Asian, Latina, and many more. Please don’t let others reduce you to a simple category or a cliché. To struggle against this tide requires great courage and confidence, for in defiance you face great risks. Indeed, others will most likely disapprove of your choices, confront you over your values, and even ostracize you for your actions. But hold fast to your ideals and who you are—we need your strength, your character, your integrity! As distinguished Mount Holyoke women, not only do you “dwell in possibility,” as Emily Dickinson put it, but more importantly, you can and will make a positive impact on those around you. You are destined for it—how could it be otherwise? Like the illustrious line of Mount Holyoke graduates before you, you have so much talent, so much passion, so much joy, and so much love to offer the world—don’t let anyone stop you from expressing what stirs deep within you. Be true to yourselves. Cherish who you are and look forward to who you will become, just as we have in working with you over the last several years. As your teachers and as your friends, we've challenged you to wrestle with the great issues of our times—war, poverty, and human dignity; we've pushed you to struggle with different perspectives and traditions; and we've compelled you to reflect critically on these experiences. Sometimes that process generated sleepless nights (what do you expect when your 20 - page paper is due the next morning and it’s 3 a.m. and you still have 18 pages to write?!) and certainly it produced unease, even tears. But in the end, you liberated yourselves from what William Blake calls “mind-forged manacles,” those obstacles and sanctions imposed from outside. You are free now, free to dream—and to realize—fantastic dreams. Be true to yourselves. While I know the pressures to secure a job and avoid living in the basement of your parents’ house are overwhelming, don’t be afraid to follow your passions and to take a chance. Do what you love and have fun, even though the skeptics will tell you that you can’t be idealistic and practical at the same time. If I had listened to the naysayers, I would probably be suffering in a cubicle somewhere like Dilbert rather than having the privilege of knowing and working with you here at Mount Holyoke. There will always be someone who will tell you that in chasing your dreams, you are being selfish and unrealistic. Don’t believe them for a minute!!! In following your bliss, you are acting on the very impulses that make life meaningful and worth living. According to the great Chinese philosopher Mencius, these are precisely the same feelings that arise in people when they “suddenly see a child about to fall into a well.” Their feelings spring from tenderness and compassion, not a desire for gratitude or praise: in short, it is the finest expression of their humanity. Express your humanity in the same way, without fear of failure or thoughts of whether you will make us proud, for each and every one of you already have. All of you epitomize the very spirit of Mount Holyoke and we look forward to all of your future triumphs. To this extraordinary class of 2005, Godspeed as you continue with the next stage of your life’s adventures and … may the Force be with you … always. |
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