In an address to 91短视频鈥檚 graduating class of 2015 Sunday, commencement speaker E.J. Dionne Jr. pulled inspiration from a rather unlikely source: former comedy talk show host Stephen Colbert.
鈥淐olbert said precisely what I think about cynicism nine years ago,鈥� Dionne, a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, told the crowd. 鈥淐ynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it鈥檚 the farthest thing from it.
鈥淐ynics always say 鈥榥o,鈥� but saying 鈥榶es鈥� begins things. Saying 鈥榶es鈥� is how things grow,鈥� he continued. 鈥淐ynicism isn鈥檛 realism, because realism accepts people as they are.鈥�
Hundreds of students and thousands of family members and friends crowded into Yoder Arena at 91短视频 to watch the university鈥檚 97th annual commencement ceremony.
A total of 486 degrees and certificates were handed out. Of those 486, 370 were undergraduate degrees 鈥� including 139 adult degrees 鈥� 106 were graduate degrees and 10 were certificates in pastoral ministry studies. . A total of .
91短视频 also awarded a posthumous honorary degree on behalf of Ruth C. Jones of Verona, who died in June at the age of 40 while enrolled in the adult degree completion program.
Jones was finishing a bachelor鈥檚 of science in nursing and was employed at Augusta Health, where she had worked for 15 years. Her husband, Nicholas, received her diploma on her behalf.
Throngs of people filled the 3,600-capacity arena, packing the bleachers and seats on the floor, the track circling above the arena and a theater that showed a live broadcast of the ceremony.
Dionne, 63, who also is a professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, titled his address 鈥淐ynicism Isn鈥檛 Realism: Letting Joy Surprise You.鈥� In it, he highlighted what he said is the importance of finding the good in everything and everyone, staying humble and continuing to learn.
Remember, Dionne told members of the graduating class, you can always learn something from everyone.
鈥淭he smartest people on this Earth are never, ever the know-it-alls,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he truly ingenious people 鈥β� are constantly amazed by how little they know.鈥�
He also took time to acknowledge the sacrifice and help from parents in guiding their children to graduation.
鈥淚 always disliked the phrase 鈥榮elf-made,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淣one of us is self-made. It鈥檚 a biological and spiritual absurdity.鈥�
Other speakers included Najla El Mangoush, a master鈥檚 graduate from Benghazi, Libya, in the university鈥檚 conflict transformation program; Kimberly Groff, a graduate from Ephrata, Pa., in the adult degree completion program; and undergraduate students Emily Shenk, of Goshen, Ind., and Jordan Luther, of Martinsville.
Speaking to the class, Luther compared the new graduates to a box of crayons.
鈥淪ome of us came from five minutes away down the road while others grew up 5,000 miles away,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur identities are like a 64-box of crayons, filled with subtlety, diversity and compassion; colors to create portraits of peace and transcendence in your community and in your world.鈥�
Dionne graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In addition to writing columns for The Washington Post and serving as a professor at Georgetown University, he is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He lives in Bethesda, Md., with his wife and three kids.
Before concluding his speech, Dionne said to the roomful of graduates: 鈥淐ommencement is the beginning and not an end. Never stop learning.鈥�
Courtesy of the Daily News Record, April 27, 2015