On Saturday, May 12, 328 students, including 27 master’s candidates, were awarded degrees, and one student received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in the ceremony, which took place in the Amsler Campus Center on the MCLA campus.

From left, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Congressman John W. Olver, Nancy Fitzpatrick, MCLA Alumnus Stephen Long '73.

Local Coverage:

• MCLA graduates 328
• Graduate eyes future in county
• Class of 2007: In the game
• MCLA Sends off grads
• Student Spotlight
• MCLA grads to spend year teaching English in China

MCLA President Mary K. Grant

Commencement speech – Charge to the Class of 2007

May 12, 2007

What a great day this is for the class of 2007, or should I say my fellow MCLA alumni! What a great day this is for family and friends who are here today. Thank you so much for sharing this special day with us.

We know that we would not be here without your love and support, and we thank you for everything you’ve done to make this day possible.

Being president of this wonderful college carries with it a lot of perks. One of those perks is that I get the best seat in the house at Commencement. I get to be able to see all of you, and you are a wonderful sight to behold. The Class of 2007. You are really something.

The class of 2007 has a unique and distinct personality. You are a class rich with character, and filled with characters.

A few nights ago the alumni association threw the senior class a welcoming party. It was a great opportunity to be with many of you and to talk with you. I wish I could have bottled the energy in that room.

I wish I could have captured for all who are here to day the optimism, the enthusiasm – the hope that was present – that IS present with you. During your time at MCLA you have delighted the faculty and staff with your generous good will, your bright outlook on life, and your unflagging optimism.

Sure, sometimes we get skeptical, sometimes we can get downright cynical, but on balance you are a pretty confident group of people. And, although you are all individuals in your own right, your collective enthusiasm, your community sense of humor, and your bright spirits have lit up this college.

This personality of yours would be remarkable in any place, at any time, but, considering what we as a nation have endured over the last few years, your optimistic confidence truly is admirable.

You are often described as the digital generation. Many of you have grown up with technology. You are – as I have heard Dan Bosley say – digital natives; I would venture that many of us on this platform could be considered digital immigrants, trying to distinguish between a peapod and an Ipod, between blackberries and blueberries.

We have much to learn from you.

You have used technology in interesting ways. You use it as a tool for teaching and learning, you use it push past the boundaries of geography, you use it to stay in touch and as a medium of expression. You use technology as a tool, as a vehicle to stay connected to the rapidly changing world.

You are not a class that is going to be content to sit on the sidelines – you will be in the game – and that is a very good thing for the rest of us - because my friends, you have got some work ahead of you!

I would like to say that today, we are delivering you into a perfect world and your challenge is simply not to mess it up, but I’m afraid my generation and the generation before me have left you with some serious challenges and a bit of a mess to clean up.

During your time at MCLA, during these early days of the 21st Century, we have been a country at war. In places across the globe we have men and women - fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, son, daughters – friends who are putting their lives on the line, every day.

I am reminded, as I reflect on your incredible, yet-to-be-realized potential, of just how much is being sacrificed – to paraphrase the late Robert Kennedy’s timeless question concerning the human consequences of war, “who among those lost might have written a poem, cured cancer, played in a World Series or given us the gift of laughter from the stage? Which one would have helped build a bridge or a university – or teach a child to read?”

I can tell you this. Among The Class of 2007 are many who have already taught a child to read and have committed themselves to making the lives of our children better. Among The Class of 2007 are many who write poetry – just read the latest issue of Spires, and you will know what I mean.

Without a doubt, the class of 2007 has given us the gift of laughter from the stage. And they have helped build a great college – right here at MCLA.

We did have a very good baseball season, so one of you might someday play in a World Series. (It’s more likely you’ll manage a World Series club, or own the team.) But we’ve seen the commitment our student athletes bring to everything they do, and any major leaguer could learn a lot from our Trailblazers.

Speaking of teams, the late, great author David Halberstam said this as he reflected upon the wonderful book he wrote, called Teammates:

“It's a baseball book, but it's not a baseball book. It's a book about aging and friendship. Ultimately, it's a book about love. There's a moment, as you age where friendship turns into love. You look back at your life and you think, Oh, we did that together. We were young. We did it pretty well. How lucky and privileged we were to have done it and to have been each other's friends. Over time, who won a game, who did or did not get a hit, or win a batting title, begins to become less important. What you're left with is the texture of friendship and affection and, finally, love.”

You, my friends, have made friends for life. Don’t be afraid to love each other. And don’t be surprised if one of these graduates does, indeed, cure cancer.

My fellow alumni, I know from talking with you the challenges and sacrifices are not lost on you. You are keenly aware of the importance of education as the best tool that we have to bridge cultural, civic, and economic divides.

Our society is beset by challenges from without and within. Our best hope to deal with the challenges of the 21st century rests with you.

Your challenge is to use your education to help bridge these divides, to help others recognize that they are part of a much larger world. And, to step back and imagine how the world looks from another’s perspective – and to ask how does a person’s life experiences or cultural perspective shape a point of view. A liberal education should prepare us to know that asking questions can be just as important – perhaps even more so, than knowing the answers.

During this 21st Century you have witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Katrina did not just cut a path through the gulf coast – wiping out neighborhoods, homes, schools, and businesses – Katrina exposed a rift in American society. Katrina revealed the painful inequities made greater by poverty, history, race, and class. And even as the federal government struggles to cope with Katrina’s aftermath, MCLA students got to work.

You rolled up your sleeves and you traveled south to help rebuild homes, communities, and hope. And while you used technology to communicate and to stay in touch, you helped people in New Orleans the old-fashioned way – you gave of yourself. You demonstrated your love for your neighbor in need. You got your hands dirty.

And while I know that you learned a lot while you’ve been here at MCLA, the motivation to reach out and to help came from the people around us here today – our families and friends. Once again, we owe them an immeasurable debt.

While you have studied here, during these early days of the 21st Century, science has determined that Pluto is no longer a planet. At the same time we have discovered a new planet that has us wondering about life in a far away galaxy. We have also reached agreement that global warming and a host of environmental issues are, indeed, problems we can no longer afford to ignore.

Now we must bring renewed energy, commitment, and innovation to bear in addressing climate change, oil dependency, clean air and water – in short, it’s past time we got serious about our stewardship of this planet. Right now it’s the only planet we have, and we must take better care of it. That responsibility, in large part, will fall to you, the Class of 2007, and your generation.

In this new century – as a result of years and years of work – scientists and researchers, working together, have unraveled the complexities of the humane genome – we can’t even begin to fully imagine what this will mean for fueling new research and raising hopes that once incurable diseases will be cured – or for fueling new debates and discussions concerning the boundaries of science and ethics. Again, you will complete that work. And, again, you are ready for the challenge.

Members of this class have conducted and presented original research at state and national conferences, as well as at the MCLA undergraduate research conference, helping to pave the way for your acceptance into a range of masters and doctoral programs.

During these early days of the 21st Century we acknowledge the importance of the creative sector in driving a new economy – we have seen countless examples of talent, creativity, and innovation in this remarkable class of 2007.

You have produced documentaries, plays and concerts, an award-winning newspaper, and designed Web sites; you have produced original works of art, curated exhibitions, and managed gallery openings. You have blended physics, robotics, and art. You have even written successful grant proposals for other Berkshire cultural institutions.

Some members of this class have demonstrated enormous creativity and innovation as they balanced or, perhaps juggled, work and family responsibilities. They have raced from the office, or the classroom, to campus and back again, with a drive and a passion that is inspiring and hard to match.

They bring wisdom, experience and perspective that adds to the richness of the educational landscape at MCLA.

The Class of 2007 has rounded out classroom experiences with internships in health care, journalism, museum studies, fund raising, accounting, social services, and the not-for-profit world. You have discovered a passion for teaching and for throwing open doors to learning for the generations of students who will come after you. Thank you for that.

You have explored the international world – and many of you have plans to do so in a bigger way as you leave here. Your curiosity about the rest of the world, your natural impulse to do good work, and your faith in yourself represent our best hope for a world at peace. You can do it.

As president, thanks to all of you, my time here with you at MCLA has been rich and rewarding.

A few weeks ago, the wonderful Boston Globe columnist, Derrick Jackson, spent some time at MCLA. When he and his accomplished wife, Michelle Holmes, returned to Porches at the end of the evening, Derrick wrote this note to us:

“Normally a guest speaker does his or her thing and then awaits a Thank You from the college. Since you are probably in bed or headed to bed as I write this from Porches, I am going to beat you to the punch.

As an urban public commuter college graduate, I can say without a shadow of hesitation or exaggeration, that my visit to MCLA… was one of the most refreshing reminders that there is great hope for this country from our public institutions.”

Thank you for this. I could go on.

What we’ve just witnessed on this platform today is the coming of age of a remarkable generation – the leaders of the 21st Century. They have changed this college. They will change the world.

To the members of the class of 2007 it is my greatest hope for you that you will bring meaning into your lives by giving of yourself to others and to the community around you.

I encourage you to remain optimistic and take the long view – change and success do not happen overnight – you have to work at it. Think of what has just happened in Northern Ireland.

And, despite the rapid advances in technology and your great skill at using it, you will have to work hard to stay in touch with your family and your friends. But do it. Share your lives with the ones you love.

Be courageous. Stand up for what really matters to you. Know that not everything can be a matter of principle – for how will you really know when something is truly worth fighting for? Courage is not reserved for moments of high drama but rather through choices you will be called upon to make and actions that you take – regardless of the personal consequences. Aristotle said that courage is having just the right amount of fear.

Keep your sense of humor. Be open to new experiences. Leave the world a bit better – through your work, your humanity, your commitment to making a difference.

You have left this piece of the world better by having been here, and the world that you are about to enter will be enriched by your spirit, by your talents, by your humanity.

My fellow alumni, I wish you well. And I offer to you my deepest and most heartfelt congratulations.