Saturday, May 23, 2009

Whitman College students, staff and faculty illustrated messages of congratulations, hope and goodwill with spoken word, music and laughter during the annual Baccalaureate ceremony Saturday.

Baccalaureate at Whitman is an “important and enduring tradition,” President Bridges told the large audience. “It is a time for reflection and celebration.” He offered the Whitman community’s thanks and good wishes to two Baccalaureate speakers who are beginning new phases of their careers and lives: Ulysses “U.J.” Sofia, the William K. and Diana R. Deshler Chair of Astronomy, who is leaving to become the chair of the department of physics at American University in Washington, D.C., and Varga Fox, the director of financial aid services, who retires after a 29-year career.

Aisha Fukushima ’09 and Justin Hayashi ’09 captured the energy and essence of that celebration in “Attitude of Gratitude,” a dual spoken-word speech “inspired and informed” by poet Maya Angelou.

“What can we offer the world, when it has given us so much?” they asked.

Hayashi gave the answer this way:

… We have benefited from the gift of others,
And with an attitude of gratitude, I hope that we, too, will give back to our sisters and brothers,
Ancestors and predecessors,
Distant others and our communities,
And I speak truthfully when I say I would be NOTHING without the help of what others would do for me,
So I hope you all take a moment to reflect,
Take a moment to digest,
And someday choose a moment to invest,
The same time and energy that somebody selflessly gave to you …

Fukushima had this to say:

This is for you, class of 2009,
The pressure made diamonds, how we gonna let ’em shine?
Realizing that our paths of life are deeply intertwined,
What are we going to do, to give back this time?
To give back to those who have sacrificed so much,
So that we could contribute to the world with our own unique touch
To live with an attitude of gratitude, my friends,
Is to realize that it’s about more than a means to an end,
Is to aspire to embody the compassion and selflessness that has made us into who we are,
To, reinvest in the come-unities that raised us on their shoulders so we could reach for the stars,
For the people who made you slip up and trip up, and want to give up along the way,
For the people who are so proud that you are here today.
To live with an attitude of gratitude,
Is to be grateful that we are the people we have become …

Aisha and Justin’s dynamic speech culminated with Aisha singing as the backdrop to Justin’s spoken words by Angelou.

Justin Greenberg ’09 and Katie Moyer ’09 brought their piano talent to Baccalaureate as well. Greenberg performed “Peace Be With You,” a piano composition created for the occasion by Kristin Vining-Stauffer ’98. Katie Moyer ’09 performed Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Etude Tableau, Op. 33, No. 3 (Op. Posth.).

Adam Kirtley, Stuart coordinator of religious and spiritual life, asked seniors to consider the advice of your “weird uncle” whom he described as the person who, four years ago at high school graduation, told you, “Enjoy every moment of college because it’s the best time of your life.”

Kirtley called that advice bogus, while acknowledging that to “walk across Ankeny Field at 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in the spring is a pretty awesome experience. The sense of freedom, accomplishment, anticipation, and unbridled joy is palpable.” Still, he warned seniors that measuring your days “against those you consider your ‘best’ is a recipe for frustration and futility. It forces our gaze backwards and asks the wrong question,” he said. “I urge you to not live your life pining for the good times, or waiting for the better times. Rather, let us claim the richness of life here and now.”

Fox spoke on “Reflections Time and Change” as she shared the evolution of her career and life over nearly three decades. “We had never heard of Microsoft or Apple. IBM made computers that were the size of a room … we did everything on a typewriter — you do know what typewriters are don’t you? — and were thrilled when IBM came out with the Selectric, which had a correction tape on the machine!

There was no Internet, cell phones, iPods or online social networks. “We communicated by writing letters and dialing a phone that was attached somewhere to a wall,” she said. Along the way, financial aid programs have been created and gone “the way of the dodo.”

“Much will change for you as well, in the next 29 years,” she told the seniors. “Hopefully, you have gained the tools during your time at Whitman to allow you to adapt to change and to learn how to use all of the new programs and gadgets that will be available to you during your lifetime. The vistas that you cannot see or imagine now will offer you amazing views in the coming years. Drink in those views and embrace the changes life brings you.”

Professor Sofia told students they probably don’t realize “how much their Whitman experience mirrors the faculty’s.” Both faculty and students apply to be accepted at Whitman; both are “constantly learning, exploring, being tested and evolving.” And, in Sofia’s case as he prepares for a new phase of his career, “I’m right there with you if you are nervously excited about the future.” In fact, the Whitman faculty member since 1985 said, “I’ve even joined the Facebook group for Whitman College Alumni in Washington, D.C. So even though I'll be sitting with the faculty at the Commencement ceremonies tomorrow, my heart will be across the aisle in the student section with you.”

On a trip to New York with Whitman students this spring, he heard from alumni who feel their “current success is the result of choosing the unfamiliar path at different points in their careers. And they credited Whitman with giving them the skills to adapt.

“So as we move on to new challenges in the next months, we should recognize that change is good, and feel secure that we are well prepared to navigate the unknown ahead.”

The complete texts of Baccalaureate speeches are posted online here.

CONTACT:

Lana Brown
Office of Communications
(509) 527-5169
brownll@whitman.edu