Sonia Shah ’90 to Deliver Commencement Address to Class of 2025</h1> <article> <h1>Sonia Shah ’90 to Deliver Commencement Address to Class of 2025</h1> <p>bdenneen — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 21:06:13 +0000</p> <span>Sonia Shah ’90 to Deliver Commencement Address to Class of 2025</span> <span><span>bdenneen</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-04-14T17:06:13-04:00" title="Monday, April 14, 2025 - 17:06">Mon, 04/14/2025 - 17:06</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A persuasive writer and fierce skeptic, Shah challenges our popular assumptions and long-held scientific beliefs about everything from the way we test the safety and effectiveness of new drugs to how we combat infectious disease. A throughline of her work is mythbusting, an extended argument that what we have been taught to believe about the world—and about each other—is often based on flawed logic, lousy science, or overtly racist beliefs.</p> <p>But whether Shah is writing about microbes, migration, or pandemics, she reinforces her arguments with rigorous research, making her one of the most trusted expert voices in modern science literature. For example, in her 2004 book, <em>Crude: The Story of Oil</em>, Shah’s eloquent argument for us to ditch “our oil-drenched society” and “chart a new energy future” has even greater resonance today: 2024 was the hottest year on the planet since record-keeping began in 1880.</p> <p>Her other books include 2010’s <em>The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years,</em> long-listed for the Royal Society Winton Prize; 2016’s <em>Pandemic: Tracking Contagions from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond</em>, a <em>New York Times Book Review</em> Editor’s Choice and a finalist for the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> Book Prize in science/technology; and 2020’s <em>The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move</em>, which was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and was selected as a best nonfiction book of 2020 by <em>Publishers Weekly.</em> Shah received a 2023 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant for her forthcoming book, <em>Special: The Rise and Fall of a Beastly Idea.</em></p> <p>91ֱ�� President Carmen Twillie Ambar, who spoke with Shah on the 91ֱ�� podcast <a href="/node/463861"><em>Running to the Noise</em></a> earlier this year, says the commencement address comes at a meaningful moment for both the college and the world. “Throughout 2025, 91ֱ�� is celebrating our achievement of carbon neutrality on campus. That milestone underscores how vital it is to be responsible stewards of the Earth in the fight against climate change—something Sonia explores deeply in her work. Given that so many 91ֱ�� students and alums are committed to sustainability and environmental justice, Sonia’s insights and wisdom are a powerful and timely addition to this year’s commencement ceremony.”</p> <p>Shah’s bylines have appeared in the <em>New York Times Magazine</em>, the <em>New Yorker</em>, and the <em>Nation</em>. A popular public speaker and 2024 Guggenheim Fellow, Shah has lectured at universities and colleges nationwide, including Columbia’s Earth Institute, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Georgetown. She also gave a popular TED Talk, “3 reasons we still haven’t gotten rid of malaria.”</p> <p>Shah was born in New York City to Indian immigrants. Growing up, she shuttled between the northeastern United States, where her mother and father practiced medicine, and Mumbai and Bangalore, India, where her extended working-class family lived. “Shah makes clear that her interest in migration is personal,” wrote Richard O. Prum, the W.R. Coe Professor of Ornithology at Yale University, in his <em>New York Times’</em> review of <em>The New Great Migration.</em> “The daughter of a couple who emigrated from India to New York, she writes that her parents’ relocation ‘instilled in me an acute feeling of being somehow out of place, one that’s taken nearly five decades to quell.’”</p> <p>Since earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and neuroscience at 91ֱ��, Shah has been an active and generous alum. She served as editor-in-chief of <em>The 91ֱ�� Review</em> and participated on a career panel during the paper’s 150th anniversary celebration. Shah’s son, Kush Bulmer, is also an Obie; he graduated in 2022.</p> <p>Shah joins a list of notable authors to visit campus as 91ֱ�� Commencement speakers, among them Robert Frost (1937), Alex Haley (1976), Maya Angelou (1983), David Sedaris (2018), and Richard Powers (2023). The address will be live-streamed as part of <a href="/commencement">Commencement weekend</a> festivities.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Renowned science journalist and 91ֱ�� alum will receive an honorary doctorate</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-04-15T12:00:00Z">Tue, 04/15/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Sonia Shah ’90, an investigative journalist and critically acclaimed author of prize-winning books on migration, disease, and human-animal relations, will deliver the keynote address for 91ֱ��’s Commencement ceremony honoring the Class of 2025 on Monday, May 26. She will also be awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3152">Commencement</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Glenford Nuñez</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Homecoming and Reunion 2023: The Weekend in Pictures</h1> <p>jstrauss — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 19:27:20 +0000</p> <span>Homecoming and Reunion 2023: The Weekend in Pictures</span> <span><span>jstrauss</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-10-16T15:27:20-04:00" title="Monday, October 16, 2023 - 15:27">Mon, 10/16/2023 - 15:27</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Obie alums spanning generations returned for Homecoming and Reunion at the tail end of September. The gorgeous autumn weekend provided a fitting backdrop for festive celebrations all over campus: performances by conservatory musicians and others, catching up with old friends, dropping in on favorite spots, taking part in classes and reunion cluster activities, mixing with current students, cheering on our athletic teams, and basking in the glow of Illumination and fireworks.</p> <p>Following are a few highlights from the weekend’s festivities. Find many more on our official <a href="https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAXa4C">Flickr page</a>.</p> <p>See yourself or Obie friends? Tell us about it at <a href="mailto:alum.mag@oberlin.edu?subject=Memories%20of%20Homecoming%202023...">alum.mag@oberlin.edu</a>!</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Alums from near and far returned for three days of all things Obie.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-10-16T12:00:00Z">Mon, 10/16/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3346">Advancement</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3902">Homecoming</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2771">Athletics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">There were smiles for miles at Homecoming and Reunion Weekend.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-cte-images field--type-list-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yes (Gallery Style)</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Marti Hwang</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-33584" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-cont-img-section paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images photoswipe-gallery"> <div class="o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <div class="image-grid image-grid--single-caption pull"> <div id="obj-31742" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-image-row paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <div class="image-row"> <div class="image-row__images" data-cols="3"> <div id="obj-29945" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-05.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29946" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-04_0.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29947" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-02_0.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="obj-31743" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-image-row paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <div class="image-row"> <div class="image-row__images" data-cols="3"> <div id="obj-29948" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-06_0.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29949" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/oberlin_orchestra_homecoming_reunion_weekend-143.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="5000" data-pswp-height="3333"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29950" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-01_1.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="obj-31744" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-image-row paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <div class="image-row"> <div class="image-row__images" data-cols="3"> <div id="obj-29951" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-09_1.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29952" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/homecoming_reunion_compressed-08_0.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1024" data-pswp-height="681"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29953" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/20230930_illumination_abefrato_3_large.jpeg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1280" data-pswp-height="854"> </a> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="obj-31745" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-image-row paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <div class="image-row"> <div class="image-row__images" data-cols="3"> <div id="obj-29956" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/img_6721.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="5184" data-pswp-height="3456"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29955" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/23-09-30_contact_and_first_half_of_banquet_photos_alumni_weekend_jonathan_clark_028.jpeg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="6048" data-pswp-height="4024"> </a> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-29957" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--photoswipe-images"> <figure> <a href="/sites/default/files/content/figure/5th_cluster_at_slow_train-18.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="5000" data-pswp-height="3333"> </a> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="figcaption"> <div class="figure__caption"> <p>Scenes from 91ֱ��’s Homecoming Reunion Weekend: September 29-October 1, 2023.</p> </div> <div class="figure__credit"> Photo credit: Marti Hwang, Jonathan Clark, Cady Hurlbert, Yevhen Gulenko </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Marks 2020 Commencement Weekend with Virtual Celebrations</h1> <p>anagy — Thu, 21 May 2020 18:24:46 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Marks 2020 Commencement Weekend with Virtual Celebrations</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-05-21T14:24:46-04:00" title="Thursday, May 21, 2020 - 14:24">Thu, 05/21/2020 - 14:24</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91ֱ�� will present virtual Commencement celebrations to recognize the Class of 2020 on Sunday, May 24 and Monday, May 25.</p> <p>A Commencement planning committee worked quickly beginning in mid-March to change the course of the ceremony due to COVID-19 and the social distancing rules enacted by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. The planning committee was led by staff and involved student input. </p> <p>The commencement experience includes a Crimson and Gold Convocation, in which President Carmen Twillie Ambar will give a state-of-the-college address, “The Certainty of 91ֱ��.” The prerecorded event will be posted at <a href="/commencement">oberlin.edu/commencement</a> at 10:30 a.m. EDT on May 24.</p> <p>The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life will host its traditional Baccalaureate Ceremony virtually at 1 p.m. EDT on May 24. ‘‘On Parting Again: Saying Goodbye During the Coronavirus Pandemic,’’ features a student panel representing different faith traditions. Panelists include Nathan Carpenter (nonreligious), Noa Gordon-Guterman (Jewish), Kenneth Kitahata (Buddhist), Madeleine Gefke (Christian), and Lyala Khan (Pluralist). Rising-senior Ivy Miller will facilitate. President Ambar will offer a welcome, and music will be performed by violinist Riley Calcagno, who performs both classical and roots music. The event can be viewed at <a href="/commencement">oberlin.edu/commencement</a>.</p> <p>To mark Commencement on May 25, the college will honor its 648 graduates with a virtual celebration featuring President Ambar and Board of Trustees Chair Chris Canavan '84. The prerecorded event will be posted at <a href="/commencement">oberlin.edu/commencement</a> at 10 a.m. EDT.</p> <h4>Time capsule for grads</h4> <p>Planning committee member Troy Stephenson ’20, a viola performance major, says that inclusion and accessibility was important to students. They engaged with a platform called Capsule as a way for seniors to upload videos and share their reflections and experiences.</p> <p>“I really enjoy how although this is virtual, it still feels personal. It isn’t simply a slideshow presentation of the graduating class, but a warm message from each student,” Stephenson says. “To me, that feels as if we each get to take part in giving a final message to 91ֱ��, and more specifically, the Class of 2020.” </p> <p>Nathan Carpenter '20, comparative American studies and environmental studies double major, says the committee's goals were broadly to envision a way to celebrate this moment and all that the Class of 2020 has achieved, while simultaneously recognizing that they couldn't fully replicate Commencement Weekend online.</p> <p>"We needed to think of ways to connect a little bit differently, and that is what we have tried to achieve through initiatives like the Capsule videos and the more small-scale Zoom events that have been scheduled throughout the week," Carpenter says. "I think what makes 91ֱ�� distinct—and certainly what made my 91ֱ�� experience special—are the students. The Class of 2020 has been such an incredible group of peers for the last four years, and the opportunity to celebrate them means a lot." </p> <p>The precursor to Commencement is Senior Week. Athletics, the Multicultural Resource Center, and academic departments hosted virtual celebrations and sendoffs for graduates. A year-end show focused on the work of studio art graduates can be viewed in this <a href="https://photo-stories.oberlin.edu/virtual-senior-art-exhibition/">virtual exhibit</a>. Seniors were also invited to take part in <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oberlin/sets/72157714398952298/">“Spirit Week”</a> through their personal social media accounts. </p> <h4>From 91ֱ�� with Love</h4> <p>In the weeks leading up to Commencement, 91ֱ�� staff hand-packed and mailed out gift boxes to all graduates. The boxes were personalized for each grad and packed with their cap, gown, tassels, 91ֱ�� Alumni Association swag, a letter from President Ambar, handwritten notes from faculty, notes and postcards from academic departments, and gifts from advisors. The idea came out of the Commencement/Reunion Weekend Planning Committee in mid-March. </p> <p>“We tried our best to send home to students what they would have received if they were still on campus,” says Associate Director of Donor Relations Emily Speerbrecher. “We simply put the idea out to faculty for handwritten notes, and they responded. The whole experience was a heartwarming reminder of how much love faculty and staff have for 91ֱ�� students.” </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-05-21T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/21/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3152">Commencement</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2390">Events</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Graduates hug following the 2019 Commencement ceremony.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amber Benford</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>College Announces 2019 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients</h1> <p>anagy — Wed, 01 May 2019 20:39:06 +0000</p> <span>College Announces 2019 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2019-05-01T16:39:06-04:00" title="Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 16:39">Wed, 05/01/2019 - 16:39</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Apple executive and former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson will be the keynote speaker for the annual <a href="/commencement/speakers/honorees">Commencement ceremony</a> honoring the Class of 2019.</p> <p>Commencement exercises will take place Monday, May 27, on Tappan Square, at which time College of Arts and Sciences and 91ֱ�� Conservatory graduates will receive degrees. The annual ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m.</p> <p>Jackson is vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives at Apple, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Jackson oversees Apple’s efforts to minimize its impact on the environment by addressing climate change through renewable energy and energy efficiency, using greener materials, and inventing new ways to conserve precious resources. She is also responsible for Apple’s education policy programs, its product accessibility work, and its worldwide government affairs function.</p> <p>From 2009 to 2013, Jackson served as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Appointed by former President Barack Obama, she focused on reducing greenhouse gases, protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination, and expanding outreach to communities on environmental issues.</p> <p>Jackson will be presented by <a href="/md-rumi-shammin">Rumi Shammin</a>, associate professor and chair of environmental studies.</p> <p>‘‘Lisa Jackson’s work at the EPA focused on climate change, protecting environmental quality, preventing toxic exposure, and expanding community engagement on environmental issues—all of which are central to the priorities of the Environmental Studies Program and the sustainability mission and vision of 91ֱ�� College,’’ Shammin says. “Our graduates are expected to be among the next generation of leaders in addressing these issues, and it will be a great opportunity for them to hear about her journey.”</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Joanne Chory<br> Photo credit: Salk Institute</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Robert Krulwich<br> Photo credit: Radiolab</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Matthew Fox<br> Photo credit: Unity.org</figcaption> </figure> <p>Jackson will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree. The college will also present honorary degrees to scientific investigator Joanne Chory and broadcast journalist Robert Krulwich ’69.</p> <p>In addition to Commencement, the college will welcome the return of hundreds of alumni for class reunions and special events as part of <a href="/commencement">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a>, May 24-27.</p> <p>The traditional Multifaith Baccalaureate Service features keynote speaker Matthew Fox, a spiritual theologian and Episcopal priest. Fox, founder of the Order of the Sacred Earth, in Vallejo, California, is noted for his activism for gender and eco-justice. His topic, “12 Years, What Now?” regarding the 2019 United Nations Climate report, will serve as an urgent call to action to the Class of 2019.</p> <p>The service will begin at 1 p.m. in Finney Chapel with an opening performance by Conservatory of Music students.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2019-05-01T12:00:00Z">Wed, 05/01/2019 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3152">Commencement</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2390">Events</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25351">Environmental Studies and Sciences</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/environmental-studies" hreflang="und">Environmental Studies and Science</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Lisa Jackson, a leader in sustainability initiatives, is the 2019 Commencement speaker.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Apple</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Main Library Will Be Named for Activist, Alumna Mary Church Terrell</h1> <p>hhempste — Tue, 22 May 2018 19:09:19 +0000</p> <span>Main Library Will Be Named for Activist, Alumna Mary Church Terrell</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-05-22T15:09:19-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 15:09">Tue, 05/22/2018 - 15:09</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When Director of Libraries Alexia Hudson-Ward moved into her spacious, bookshelf-lined office on the main library’s first level, she was playfully warned by library staff there were ‘ghosts’ present in the building. But when one particular book title continually fell from its shelf, she had to wonder, archly, if there might be something to the good-natured advisory.</p> <p>“I have so many books, but one particular title kept falling onto the floor. Even College Archivist Ken Grossi, in witnessing this phenomenon said to me ‘Someone is trying to tell you something.’ I thought it was likely just caused by vibrations, but no other books ever fell—except for the book by Mary Church Terrell, <em>A Colored Woman in a White World</em>. This happened long before the Board of Trustees made the announcement that the main library was going to named in her honor. So I don’t know what it was—if it was Terrell or just someone else saying, ’you need to read this book.’”</p> <p>Nearly two years later, the occurrence seems it could have been foreshadowing. An exhibit focused on Mary Church Terrell’s life will open during Commencement/Reunion Weekend, and a naming ceremony will take place during the October 6 inauguration of President Carmen Twillie Ambar.</p> <h5>Mary Church Terrell: Educator, Feminist, Activist</h5> <p>Considered one of the progenitors of the modern civil rights movement, Mary Church Terrell was born in 1863 to mixed-race, formerly enslaved parents. An 1884 graduate of 91ֱ�� College, Terrell was an educator, feminist, and activist who worked to further social justice during a pivotal time in which one’s gender and race were limiting factors. She was a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and signed the charter that established the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).</p> <p>Terrell was also a prolific writer who used her prose to further her social and political concerns; her scholarly articles, poems, and short stories appeared in numerous journals and magazines. In 1940, she published her autobiography, <em>A Colored Woman in a White World</em>, which details her struggles with gender and race discrimination in the United States.</p> <p>“We have pictures of her [in the 91ֱ�� College Archives] as an older woman on the picket line with signs, protesting,” says Hudson-Ward. “Mary Church Terrell really did embody the spirit of the institution around social justice and how one person can change the world.”</p> <p>In recent years, Terrell has <a href="http://time.com/4196840/mary-church-terrell/">re-entered the spotlight</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span> for her role in <em>District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co., Inc</em>. The case brought about a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that invalidated segregated restaurants in Washington D.C. This decision took place a year before Brown v. Board of Education, the Court’s landmark school desegregation ruling in 1954.</p> <p>In February 2016, Terrell’s activist work was the subject of a campus symposium, <a href="https://calendar.oberlin.edu/event/complicated_relationships_mary_church_terrells_legacy_for_21st_century_activists#.Vssh0owrJaR">Complicated Relationships: Mary Church Terrell's Legacy for 21st Century Activists</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span> . Organized by Jane and Eric Nord Associate Professor of Africana Studies Pam Brooks and Emerita Professor of History Carol Lasser, the event brought Terrell’s civil rights work to the forefront and celebrated a significant gift of <a href="http://oberlinarchives.libraryhost.com/?p=collections/controlcard&id=553">Mary Church Terrell’s letters, diaries, photographs, flyers, and awards</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span> to the college archives.<br> <br> Symposium panelist and trustee Lillie Edwards says the interest in Terrell during the past few years, particularly through the symposium, has affirmed 91ֱ��’s singular position in the history of higher education in the United States, as well as its “complicated relationship” with inclusion, equality, and equity.</p> <p>“The symposium revealed the ways Terrell’s courageous life and leadership embodied 91ֱ��’s legacy of confronting complications and ‘running toward the noise.’ Naming the 91ֱ�� main library in Terrell’s honor affirms something more: that Mary Church Terrell has come home to 91ֱ��, not only for the people who will use her papers to shape our understanding of social justice activism, but also to claim the library—and 91ֱ��—as an inclusive personal, intellectual, spiritual, and cultural space,” Edward says.</p> <p>Of the naming, Brooks says she can hardly think of a better person to honor. “Terrell embodied the determination that it took for a young black woman at that time to live and work in a totally white environment. As an educator, activist, and woman, she personifies all of these ideas and understandings of what our school stands for or hopes to stand for. She gave a great deal to the institution and to our country.”</p> <p>“Terrell is a woman of national and international prominence,” says Lasser. “We wanted to honor her. I’d like to acknowledge the students who’ve done research based on the records that are currently in the archives. [These students] have led the way in illuminating the meaning of Terrell’s life and her history with the college.”</p> <h5>Celebration Kicks Off Commencement/Reunion Weekend; Official Ceremony to Follow</h5> <p>As part of the naming, an exhibit honoring Terrell’s life will be unveiled during Commencement/ Reunion Weekend and on view in the Lemle Academic Commons inside Mudd Center. The exhibit will encompass four areas: learning, labor, leadership, and legacy. The intention of this approach is to elevate Terrell’s story around the model of the institution that she really embraced, says Hudson-Ward. “We want to celebrate the educational, learning part of this, when she could have become a socialite. She didn’t have to focus on the things she did; she had the financial means to live a very charmed life. [This exhibit will celebrate] her leadership and the quiet and refined ways in which she did things, as well as her legacy—how she has influenced generations of women and generations of leaders within civil rights.”</p> <p>Grossi says that he is excited for the opportunity to include in the exhibit the rich materials from the Archives that document the life and legacy of Mary Church Terrell.</p> <p>The official main library naming ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. October 6, when the college will also celebrate the inauguration of President Carmen Twillie Ambar. Along with the naming, the library’s main level will undergo an interior refresh, including an update to the green soffit that will bear Mary Church Terrell’s name. Additionally, Hudson-Ward says library patrons can look forward to new pieces of furniture, updated paint colors, and some reconfiguration of the library’s main level. “We want people to know that Mudd Center is not changing its name—but that the main library is being named.”</p> <p>Plans are also in the works for a traveling exhibit focused on Terrell’s life. “The goal is to create a series of educational panels that we would not just showcase on campus, but that local schools, churches, community centers, and organizations could request to learn about the wonderful story of Mary Church Terrell,” says Hudson-Ward.</p> <p>Other initiatives include an online presence to honor Terrell, created by the library’s digital initiatives team. Library staff will also release a commemorative bookmark set in time for Commencement/Reunion Weekend, with another more elevated bookmark set to be released later, along with a 2019 commemorative calendar.</p> <p>"91ֱ��’s history is steeped in moments of recognition of the College’s landmark achievements in its early years that provided access to higher education for women and African Americans,” says President Ambar. “By naming our library after Mary Church Terrell, we are honoring her incredible courage, her great work, and her historic achievements which have made American society more fair and just.”<br> <br> When thinking about the significance of the naming, Hudson-Ward is exhilarated to be involved in this moment in 91ֱ��’s history. “People are looking for the progenitors of our thinking around protesting, community leadership, community organizing, and social justice—and Terrell has emerged as a very prominent person.”</p> <hr> <p><em>Those who attend the Friends of the 91ֱ�� College Libraries reception during Commencement/Reunion Weekend will learn about additional developments for the libraries. Limited edition Mary Church Terrell commemorative bookmarks will also be distributed in the main library during the weekend.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-05-22T12:00:00Z">Tue, 05/22/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hillary Hempstead</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The main library in Mudd Center will be named in honor of 1884 graduate Mary Church Terrell, an educator, feminist, civil rights activist, and a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and the NAACP.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2384">Libraries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25381">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Mary Church Terrell</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">91ֱ�� College Archives</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Best-Selling Author and Humorist David Sedaris Will Give 2018 Commencement Address</h1> <p>anagy — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 19:42:48 +0000</p> <span>Best-Selling Author and Humorist David Sedaris Will Give 2018 Commencement Address</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-04-03T15:42:48-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 3, 2018 - 15:42">Tue, 04/03/2018 - 15:42</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p dir="ltr">Humorist and best-selling author David Sedaris, a three-time Grammy Award nominee for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album, will deliver the Commencement address to the Class of 2018.</p> <p>With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, Sedaris has become one of America’s preeminent humor writers. He is a master of satire and one of today’s most observant writers addressing the human condition, especially apparent in his latest book, a collection of his diaries entitled <em>Theft By Finding: Diaries</em> (1977-2002) (May 2017).</p> <p dir="ltr">Beloved for his personal essays and short stories, Sedaris is the author of <em>Barrel Fever</em>, <em>Holidays on Ice</em>, <em>Naked</em>, <em>Me Talk Pretty One Day</em>, <em>Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim</em>, <em>When You Are Engulfed in Flames</em>, <em>Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls</em>, and <em>Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary</em>, and a collection of fables with illustrations by Ian Falconer. Each of these books was an immediate best seller. His pieces regularly appear in <em>The New Yorker</em> and have twice been included in the Best American Essays.</p> <p dir="ltr">Associate Professor of English <a href="/desales-harrison">DeSales Harrison</a>, director of the Creative Writing Program at 91ֱ��, will present Sedaris with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He is hilarious, but his work is much richer than a written stand-up routine,” Harrison says. “It shows brilliantly how humor can be serious in the deepest sense, alive to what matters most, and fearless in the face of the most dreadful adversity. His peers are the immortals of the American comedy: James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, S.J. Perelman, Chris Rock, and Mark Twain. While he appears to hide nothing of what it feels like to be a gay Southern expatriate, the deepest secret he reveals is his disciplined command of language, timing, and wit deployed as unblinking scrutiny of the world. Above all, he is one of our greatest living artists.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Sedaris’ original audio pieces can often be heard on the public radio show <em>This American Life</em>. His latest audio recording of new stories (recorded live) is “David Sedaris: Live for Your Listening Pleasure” (November 2009). A feature film adaptation of his story <em>C.O.G.</em> was released after a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival (2013). Since 2011, he can be heard annually on a series of live recordings on BBC Radio 4 entitled “Meet David Sedaris.”</p> <p>He and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family,” and have written half-a-dozen plays, which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and the Drama Department in New York City. These plays include <em>Stump the Host</em>, <em>Stitches</em>, <em>One Woman Shoe</em>, which received an Obie Award, <em>Incident at Cobbler’s Knob</em>, and <em>The Book of Liz</em>, which was published in book form by Dramatists Play Service.</p> <p dir="ltr">As a companion piece to <em>Theft By Finding</em>, Jeffrey Jenkins published and edited an art book of Sedaris’s diary covers, titled <em>David Sedaris Diaries: A Visual Compendium</em> (October 2017). A forthcoming book of essays titled Calypso is set to be published May 2018, and a second volume of his diaries is expected for summer 2019.</p> <p>The <a href="/commencement">Commencement ceremony</a> will be held 9 a.m. Monday, May 28, in Tappan Square, at which time students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music will receive their degrees.</p> <p> </p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-04-05T12:00:00Z">Thu, 04/05/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2390">Events</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/desales-harrison" hreflang="und">DeSales Harrison</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">David Sedaris</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Ingrid Christie</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, is 2017 Commencement Speaker</h1> <p>Anonymous — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 18:44:43 +0000</p> <span>Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, is 2017 Commencement Speaker</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2017-04-28T14:44:43-04:00" title="Friday, April 28, 2017 - 14:44">Fri, 04/28/2017 - 14:44</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91ֱ�� College will hold its <a href="https://new.oberlin.edu/events-activities/commencement/index.dot">2017 commencement ceremony</a> on Monday, May 22, in Tappan Square. The following will receive honorary degrees during the ceremony.</p> <h3>DARREN WALKER</h3> <p><strong>Commencent Speaker, Honorary Doctor of Humanities</strong></p> <p>Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, the nation’s second-largest philanthropy, and for two decades has been a leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. He led the philanthropy committee that helped bring a resolution to the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy, and he chairs the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance.</p> <p>Prior to joining Ford, he was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he managed the rebuild New Orleans initiative after Hurricane Katrina. In the 1990s, as COO of Harlem’s largest community development organization, the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Walker oversaw a comprehensive revitalization program of central Harlem, including more than 1,000 new units of housing. He had a decade-long career in international law and finance at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and UBS. He is a member of the Commission on the Future of Riker’s Island and serves on the boards of Carnegie Hall, New York City Ballet, the High Line, the Arcus Foundation and PepsiCo.</p> <p>Educated exclusively in public schools, Walker received the “Distinguished Alumnus Award,” the highest honor given by his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. In 2016, TIME magazine named him to its annual list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of 10 honorary degrees and university awards.</p> <h3>BRENDA WAY</h3> <p><strong>Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts</strong></p> <p>Brenda Way received her early training at the School of American Ballet and Ballet Arts in New York City. Way launched 91ֱ�� Dance Collective as a professional company while on faculty at 91ֱ�� College and contributed to the creation of an inter-arts department that included faculty from both the College and Conservatory of Music before relocating to the Bay Area in 1976.</p> <p>She is the founder and artistic director of ODC/Dance and creator of the ODC Theater and ODC Dance Commons, community performance and training venues in San Francisco’s Mission District. Throughout the past 45 years, ODC has evolved into a national center for contemporary dance and performance. Their two-building creative campus is home to an internationally known dance company (ODC/Dance), a theater with year-round presenting and mentorship programs (ODC Theater), a training school for dancers and movers of all levels (ODC School), a Pilates Studio, and a fully subsidized Healthy Dancers' Clinic. The ODC campus currently serves 15,000 students a year in a wide variety of dance disciplines and presents some 80 performances annually of regional, national, and international talent.</p> <p>Way has choreographed more than 90 pieces during the past 46 years. Her major commissions include Unintended Consequences: A Meditation (2008) Equal Justice Society; Life is a House (2008) San Francisco Girls Chorus; On a Train Heading South (2005) CSU Monterey Bay; Remnants of Song (2002) Stanford Lively Arts; Scissors Paper Stone (1994) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Western Women (1993) Cal Performances, Rutgers University, and Jacob’s Pillow; Ghosts of an Old Ceremony (1991) Walker Art Center and the Minnesota Orchestra; Krazy Kat (1990) San Francisco Ballet; This Point in Time (1987) Oakland Ballet; Tamina (1986) San Francisco Performances; and Invisible Cities (1985) Stanford Lively Arts and the Robotics Research Laboratory.</p> <p>Her work Investigating Grace was named an National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpiece in 2011. Way’s work was selected by the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2010 to tour Southeast Asia as one of four American companies to represent the U.S. in the inaugural State Department DanceMotion program. She is a national spokesperson for dance, has been published widely, and has received numerous awards, including Isadora Duncan Dance Awards for both choreography and sustained achievement, and 40 years of support from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is a 2000 recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2009, she was the first choreographer to be a Resident of the Arts at the American Academy in Rome, and in 2012, she received the Helen Crocker Russell Award for Community Leadership from the SF Foundation. Way holds a PhD in aesthetics from Union Graduate School and is the mother of four children.</p> <h3>ROSEMARY AHTUANGARUAK</h3> <p><strong>Honorary Doctor of Humanities</strong></p> <p>Rosemary Ahtuangaruak works as environmental manager for the Alaska Native Village of Nuiqsut. A mother and grandmother, Ahtuangaruak has been a community health aide/physician assistant, emergency responder, tribal and city council member, participant with the National Tribal Think Tank with CDC/APHA, member of the North Slope Regional Advisory Committee for the federal subsistence board, and a member of the working group of the RISING SUN Arctic Council study of suicide prevention.</p> <h3>EDDIE DANIELS</h3> <p><strong>Honorary Doctor of Music</strong></p> <p>Eddie Daniels is that rarest of rare musicians who is not only equally at home in both jazz and classical music, but excels at both with breathtaking virtuosity. Expert testimony from the jazz world comes from eminent jazz critic Leonard Feather, who said of Daniels, “It is a rare event in jazz where one man can all but reinvent an instrument bringing it to a new stage of revolution.”</p> <p>From the classical side, Leonard Bernstein said, “Eddie Daniels combines elegance and virtuosity in a way that makes me remember Arthur Rubenstein. He is a thoroughly well-bred demon.”</p> <p>Eddie fist came to the attention of the jazz audience as a tenor saxophonist with the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra. When Thad and Mel first organized their band in 1966 to play Monday nights at the village Vanguard in New York, where it still plays today, Daniels was one of the first musicians they called. Later that year, he entered the International Competition for Modern Jazz, a contest organized by the pianist Fredrich Gulda and sponsored by the city of Vienna, and won first prize on saxophone. He continued working with Thad and Mel over the next several years and toured Europe extensively with them.</p> <p>A single clarinet solo recorded on “Live at the Village Vanguard” garnered sufficient attention for him to win Downbeat Magazine’s International Critic’s New Star on Clarinet Award. This conversion to clarinet was not new, for Daniels began clarinet at age 13 and earned a master’s degree at Juilliard. Winning numerous Grammy awards and nominations, Daniels revolutionized the blend of jazz and classical. In January 2014, Daniels won the Grand Prix de L’Academie du Jazz for the Best Jazz Album of the Year for “Duke at the Roadhouse,” his CD with pianist Roger Kellaway. In September 2015, Daniels performed his version of Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons at the Detroit Jazz Festival with members of the Detroit Symphony, and in November he premiered composer Charles Fox’s Quintet for Clarinet with the Harlem String Quartet.</p> <p>Eddie Daniels is clearly a renaissance musician, a virtuoso in both jazz and classical music, and a recipient of unreserved accolades from his peers, from critics, and from the public. His overriding ambition is to reach as many people as possible with his music, to enlarge the audience for both jazz and classical music and, at the same time, to tear down the walls separating them. In Daniels’ hands, the music of Mozart can be as engaging as that of Charlie Parker, and a concert featuring both can be a uniquely rewarding experience for the audience.</p> <h3>BENJAMIN K. EZINGA ’01, JOSHUA A. ROSEN ’01, & NAOMI M. SABEL ’02</h3> <p><strong>Community Service Award</strong></p> <p>Upon graduation, Josh Rosen '01, Ben Ezinga '01, and Naomi Sabel '02 formed Sustainable Community Associates, a community development firm designed to invigorate main streets and urban neighborhoods in a socially responsible and sustainable way. Defying the "failure to launch" moniker, they chose an abandoned site in downtown 91ֱ�� as their first endeavor, and the results for East College Street are tangible. Today, their development hosts new businesses and mixed-income housing, providing both an expanded tax base and increased opportunities for 91ֱ�� residents.</p> <p>In addition to ensuring the City of 91ֱ�� continues to realize its potential, SCA has advanced its work within Northeast Ohio with an eye toward the needs of Cleveland's neighborhoods, turning historic and vacant buildings into neighborhood assets. To date, SCA has facilitated the investment of more than $60 million into low-income neighborhoods and earned a deserved reputation for successfully taking on intricate challenges that have stymied other developers. When people ask why they choose the most difficult of projects, they point to their 91ֱ�� experience and the influence their liberal arts education has had on their problem-solving skills, value system, and sense of social justice.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2017-03-16T12:00:00Z">Thu, 03/16/2017 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Greg Pendolino</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Jessye Norman: Strive to Live Artfully</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:01:35 +0000</p> <span>Jessye Norman: Strive to Live Artfully</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:01:35-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:01">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:01</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Legendary soprano Jessye Norman made her debut at age 23. She has starred in leading opera houses, concert halls, and music festivals throughout Europe, North America, and three other continents, and she has forged a prolific recording career with more than 40 albums and five Grammy Awards to her credit.</p> <p>A transcript of her address to the class of 2016 follows.</p> <p>“I am of the opinion that life belongs to the community and as long as I live, I shall do for it whatever I can. Life is no small candle to me, but is rather a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I wish to make it burn as brightly as possible before passing it on to future generations.”</p> <p>I greet you today with the words of George Bernard Shaw. I would imagine that many of you recognized the quote. A guideline for life, perhaps?</p> <p>A happy good morning to you, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters; President Krislov, deans, trustees, and other administrators of 91ֱ�� College; all the assistants and others who administer the administrators; faculty with tenure, faculty without tenure; parents, family members, and anyone else who helped to pay the bills; spouses, and children of graduates; lovers and ex-lovers (you know who you are); staff members who cooked and cleaned all these semesters for the class of 2016; in other words, all who have helped to create this glorious day!</p> <p>But most of all, my greetings to you, the graduates. You, who are about to end one stage of life and embark upon another, with our hopes and hearts at your side. Congratulations one and all!</p> <p>We are gathered together as one diverse family this morning to honor this passage with you. I wish to address you as a family, a whole, because I fear we are too often separated into groups that celebrate only one part of ourselves and we need to experience this day, together.</p> <p>I would like to speak to your contributions as a whole, because I find we are too often treated as though work with our bodies were less important than work with our minds, or our heads, more significant than our hearts.</p> <p>If you and I were sitting here in any era other than this widely modern one, we would rest on chairs or stools made by hand, each one a little different from the other, each one a unique expression of human creativity. We would wear woven clothing and carved jewelry that would be a part of a communal tradition, yet individually unique.</p> <p>We would celebrate with food and drink which would be creations in themselves, taken from vessels that would be objects of art, as well as utensils for everyday use. We would surely be singing and dancing together.</p> <p>We would be living artfully, without trying.</p> <p>Albert Einstein, and surely no commencement remarks can be complete without at least one quote from the great man, stated, “When I examine myself and my method of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing knowledge.”</p> <p>Creativity. Fantasy. Now if Einstein felt this way, I would encourage you, the class of 2016—with all the training and hard work that have gone into your being here today—to raise your hands to the sky and rejoice in your own fantasies, your own creative spirits!</p> <p>You see, creativity equals self-knowledge. This knowledge can lead to wisdom and wisdom, to the understanding of others, and this understanding undoubtedly leads to tolerance.</p> <p>My point here is that in your chosen fields of endeavor and your good fortune in having prepared for “what is next in your life” at a school renowned for its early understanding of the word tolerance and its implementation of this understanding in offering women and those of African ancestry the opportunity for study, growth, development and the then-unusual participation in the society of the learned and the caring – that this makes you qualified more than some, to help to lead this world out of its malaise. You have the tools.</p> <p>Celebrate your own creativity, celebrate its wisdom, celebrate all that is possible. Celebrate the fact that you know already that extending yourselves beyond these magic gates of high, high education into the near and present depths of those places in our communities where we find formal education hardly existent at all, poverty rampant and need nearly overwhelming. You have given of yourselves, your time, and your hearts. What wonders you have wrought already—you are admired and cherished for your consciousness of your world and I know that you will not abandon your compassion and indeed the very necessity that you have to be a full participant in the community that might ultimately become your home. A complete citizen.</p> <p>I rest assured that you will not leave this grace by the side of the road while on your way to writing a really good book, preparing the groundwork for the care, yes, the cure for some chronic disease. You will not be daunted by the terrible amounts of despair and struggle in our world.</p> <p>Remember, please, the title of a song I learned to sing in Sunday school in Augusta, Georgia, “Brighten the Corner Where You Are,” meaning there is no real reason to think that you must cross two oceans in order to find those who require a helping hand, a lift up in spirit; children who need parenting, or neighborhoods lacking in the very things that should display our humanity. Brighten the corner where you are.</p> <p>I do not doubt for a moment that your hearts and caring envelope continents away from your immediate communities. You are full citizens of this planet; of course, your thoughts and actions march globally, too.</p> <p>Someone said that public service—this offering of our ‘better selves’ – is the dues we pay for the privilege of life. Here at 91ֱ��, dear graduates, your dues paying is more than up-to-date, and I thank you.</p> <p>Allow me to ask as you do: Should homelessness even exist in the richest nation on this earth? Should anyone be hungry in this world of plenty?</p> <p>Your dreams are big and inclusive and enriched by the power of a word that has real meaning for you: L O V E. You care and offer your actions to those whose possibilities and powers are less than yours. And still I remind you, dear graduates, with all that is before you, that you decide to strive to live artfully. It is simpler than you think and is not to be left only to those classmates of yours who have chosen the arts and humanities as their fields of study and proficiency.</p> <p>You see, art brings us together as a family because it is an individual expression of universal human experience. It comes from that part of us that is without fear, prejudice, malice, or any of the other things that we create in order to separate ourselves one from the other. Art makes each of us whole by insisting the we use all of our senses, our heads and our hearts, that we express with our bodies, our voices, our hands, as well as with our minds.</p> <p>Your sophisticated, educated selves may look with a questioning eye on that thing you feel when singing a Bach cantata in the church choir, or that opera role on a world stage somewhere, or playing your violin from a chair in the orchestra of your wildest hopes, or simply penning the perfect haiku at the birth of your child.</p> <p>But I encourage you to accept, my friends, that these feelings of boundless joy, peace, and serenity represent the very music of your soul. The art of your spirit. You are living artfully. Listening, enjoying, nurturing, caressing, loving, and yes, sharing the blessings of it all. This natural high that emerges from within your deepest self. Your soul’s music.</p> <p>In Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s single poem, which he called “Ode,” he wrote in his praise of artists everywhere:</p> <p>“We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers And sitting by desolate streams... On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet, we are the movers and shakers Of the world forever, it seems.”</p> <p>What a thought. Creative spirits, the movers and shakers of the world. Where could this all lead?</p> <p>You might come across the notion that an awakened spirit, this ability to express yourselves that you have honed and brought to a beautiful level of perfection here at 91ֱ�� could well be the real meaning of life—that the exploration of your own imagination might just be your real life’s work. Fantasy, thought, creativity!</p> <p>Please listen to words by an unknown author that arrived in my mailbox recently and which I offer to you, dear graduates, as a road map for the grand passage that you make today.</p> <p>“On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark. But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening. Underground, an inner revolution is taking place and certain ones of us are being called to a higher light. It is a silent revolution from the inside out.</p> <p>“We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts. We follow with passion and joy our spiritual intelligence. We are dropping soft love bombs when no one is looking… poems… hugs… music… photography… movies…kind words… smiles… dance… beautiful graphic art… random acts of kindness.</p> <p>“We each express ourselves in our own ways, with our own gifts and talents. Yes, be the change that you want to see in this world… this is the motto that fills our hearts. We know it is the only way to real transformation.</p> <p>“We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined. Our work is slow and meticulous, like the formation of the mountains...and yet, with this opening of the spirit self, entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come. This intelligence of the heart is embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings.</p> <p>“Be the change you want to see in this world. No one can do it for you. The door is open… all are welcome.”</p> <p>Just imagine finding such a gift in your inbox. The intelligence of the heart. Change this world with the power of heart and mind.</p> <p>And I would add: to enlighten ourselves and our world further through the limitless power of gratitude.</p> <p>Gratitude for the history, the legacy of this great institution which are surely the envy of those schools for which the wisdom of inclusion and outreach arrived a good deal later in their thinking and actions. You have every reason in the world to be proud of this legacy of yours. This history.</p> <p>I feel extraordinarily privileged to have been invited to share in this history and I offer my gratitude to you.</p> <p>It is important to know out loud from where we have come, on whose broad and strong shoulders it is our honor as well as a privilege to stand.</p> <p>Just three of the events in history for which my thankfulness knows no bounds…</p> <p>It happens that Carnegie Hall opened its doors on the fifth of May 1891 and has just celebrated its 125th anniversary. A year after this opening season in 1891, that prized stage would be graced by the presence in performance of an African American, Sissieretta Jones—a voice so pure and beautiful that hers was compared most favorably to the reigning European soprano of the day, Adelina Patti. History, inclusion.</p> <p>But then you had the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C. who, decades after this stunning debut by Sissieretta Jones at Carnegie Hall, did not see fit to have the great Marian Anderson to sing on the concert stage of the era, Constitution Hall, which they owned, and which they still own to this day.</p> <p>It took the sheer will and determination of Eleanor Roosevelt, who might have had a word with her husband, to turn this slight, this sign of prejudice and intolerance, into an historical moment—something that can be referred to easily as America’s first protest concert, by a woman whose art and demeanor offered only serenity, her deep faith and humility. Marian Anderson, Easter Sunday 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.</p> <p>Not singing for a few thousand but for tens of thousands surrounding the area and the reflecting pool. And the very first words out of that splendid throat on that day, “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.” Her graciousness, my gratitude.</p> <p>The wonderful Ossie Davis happened to have been a freshman student at Howard University at that time and I had the grand privilege of having him tell me of this momentous occasion—that it was a cool morning, but as the crowds were so huge, all tight together, he said, we kept warm and happy.</p> <p>The Metropolitan Opera House would need still more time for its wisdom of inclusion to make an appearance. It was not until 1955 that an African American appeared on that stage in a leading role. Again, Marian Anderson would be the one to open the door and turn on the lights so that those of us who would be privileged to follow in her wake, would be able see our paths more clearly. I have no doubts at all as to whose shoulders it is my great honor to stand.</p> <p>With that short history lesson for some of you, events of the past which show us how far we have come, I trust you are inspired to set about making your own history, your own special mark in this world. A world that is just waiting for and needing your passion and your humanity, as we have yet so much further to go.</p> <p>Be excited to continue and enlarge upon all that life and learning here have offered you, and be vigilant in your aspirations for yourself and for your country. Vote!!</p> <p>And lastly may I ask of you and of today’s momentous occasion, that you take your academic diploma under one arm and with your other hand outstretched; offer to all comers the teachings of your heart and mind, this music of your soul. And imagine, if you will, the harmony that this could bring to our world.</p> <p>I thank you.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2016-05-23T12:00:00Z">Mon, 05/23/2016 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Commencement/Reunion Weekend is May 20-23</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:01:50 +0000</p> <span>Commencement/Reunion Weekend is May 20-23</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:01:50-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:01">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:01</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="http://new.oberlin.edu/events-activities/commencement/index.dot">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a> will take place May 20-23, with Commencement exercises beginning at 9:30 a.m., Monday, May 23 on Tappan Square. Jessye Norman, hailed as one of the world’s greatest opera and concert singers, will give the Commencement address. </p> <p>The breadth and depth of Jessye Norman’s eclectic repertoire share equal richness with that of her innovative programming and scholarship. She brings her passion for singing to all that she surveys on the opera and concert stages of the world, as well as her newest expansion in the world of jazz.</p> <p>Miss Norman’s collaborations with some of today’s most exciting and creative artists of many different disciplines enliven her own exploration of the arts in all its glorious forms. For example, she has performed songs of John Cage with Meredith Monk and Joan LaBarbara under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. This fully-staged production of the Cage songs presented yet another opportunity for Miss Norman to scale new heights and broaden her artistic palette while enjoying another wonderful collaboration with artists whose work she finds inspired and inspiring.</p> <p>Miss Norman’s collaboration with composer Laura Karpman in creating the presentation of Twelve Poems on Jazz of Langston Hughes entitled “Ask Your Mama,” first performed at Carnegie Hall in 2009, resulted in the recording of this work earning a Grammy in February of this year.</p> <p>The Jessye Norman School for the Arts in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia, is a tuition-free arts program for talented middle school students who would otherwise not be able to enjoy private tutoring in the arts. The school is in its 13th academic year and is not only a source of great pride for Miss Norman, but a reaction to the need and understanding that students given the opportunity of having the arts as a part of their education and this positive means of self-expression perform better academically all round and grow up to be more involved and caring citizens.</p> <p>Miss Norman’s latest recording, “Roots: My Life, My Song,” shares with the listener what she refers to as a part of her personal universe, some of the soundtrack of her life, which offers her the opportunity to pay homage to some of the many who influence and encourage her ceaseless curiosity and what she feels is an obligation to offer musical expression outside of the traditional classical canon, as she wishes to reach as many ears as will hear and as many hearts that are open to taking this often surprising musical journey with her.</p> <p>Her work with several not-for-profit organizations include the New York Public Library, The New York Botanical Garden, The Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Carnegie Hall Boards of Trustees. A graduate fellowship program and master class series in her name at The University of Michigan and acting as spokesperson for The Partnership for the Homeless speak to her concern for the larger community and the citizenship that she credits her parents for having shown her from early childhood through their own community service.</p> <p>Miss Norman’s accolades and awards include five Grammys and some 40 honorary doctorates from universities, colleges, and conservatories around the world, but it is the sheer joy of singing the keeps her ever searching, ever exploring, ever seeking to honor the ancestors.</p> <p>Norman will receive an Honorary Doctor of Music degree. In addition to Norman, the college will present honorary degrees and service awards to the following alumni and friends of the college:</p> <ul> <li>Alison Bechdel ’81: Doctor of Humanities</li> <li>Robert Lemle ’75: Doctor of Humanities</li> <li>Robert Singer ’66: Doctor of Science </li> <li>Karen Florini ’79: Alumni Medal</li> <li>Don ’47 and Mary Louise ’47 VanDyke: Distinguished Service Award</li> </ul></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2016-02-26T12:00:00Z">Fri, 02/26/2016 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Commencement/Reunion Weekend is May 20-23.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Anna Norris</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Marian Wright Edelman Addresses Class of 2015</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:25 +0000</p> <span>Marian Wright Edelman Addresses Class of 2015</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:25-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2TJoaCM-HM&feature=youtu.be" class="newshub_embed">Marian Wright Edelman Commencement Speech</a></p> <p>Beginning her legal career as the first African American woman to pass the bar exam in Mississippi, Marian Wright Edelman has been an inspirational leader and advocate for children, families, and disadvantaged people throughout her professional life. She was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Humanities during Commencement exercises on May 25, 2015, in Tappan Square.</p> <p><em>The following is a transcript of the Commencement address by Marian Wright Edelman.</em></p> <p>It is a great honor to share this day of accomplishment, celebration, and transition at this great college with your trustees, President, faculty, families, and most importantly with what I am sure is the best graduating class in 91ֱ��’s history. 91ֱ��’s great abolitionist history makes me wonder how much closer America’s dream would be towards becoming America’s reality today if your admissions policies for African American citizens and women had been adopted by other colleges and universities in their beginning years.</p> <p>We are living in a time of unbearable dissonance between good politics and good policy; between racial creed and racial deed; between calls for community and rampant individualism and greed; and between our capacity to prevent and alleviate poverty, human deprivation and disease and our political and spiritual will to do so.</p> <p>We also are blessed to be living at an incredible moral moment and inflection point in our nation’s and world’s history— blessed to experience the beginning of both a new century and millennium. How will we say thanks for the life, earth, nations, and children God has entrusted to our care? What legacies, principles, values, and deeds will we stand for and send to the future through our children to their children and to a spiritually confused, balkanized, and violent world desperately hungering for moral leadership, peace, justice and community?</p> <p>How will progress be measured in our time and over the next hundred or thousand years if humankind survives them? By the kill power and number of weapons of destruction we can produce and traffic at home and abroad, or by our willingness to shrink, indeed destroy, the prison of violence constructed in the name of peace and security? Will we be remembered by how many material things we can manufacture, advertise, sell, and consume, or by our rediscovery of more lasting, non-material measures of success—a new Dow Jones for the purpose and quality of life in our families, neighborhoods, cities, nations, and world communities? Will we be remembered by how rapidly technology and corporate mergermania and greed can render human beings and human work obsolete, or by our search for a better balance between corporate profits and corporate caring for children, families, and the environment? Will we be remembered by how much a few at the top can get at the expense of the many at the bottom and in the middle, or by our struggle for a concept of enough for all? Will we be remembered by the glitz, style, and banality of too much of our culture in our electronic global village or by the substance of our efforts to rekindle an ethic of caring and sharing in a world driven far too much by money, technology, weaponry and quests for power and fame?</p> <p>How can it be just in the United States that the richest one percent of Americans own more of the nation’s wealth than the bottom 90 percent; that the highest-paid American CEO took home in 2013 more than the combined annual salaries of 6,600 child care workers; and that those who educate and care for our children who constitute 100 percent of our future are so devalued in our society? Why are teachers nearly 270 times less valuable than a corporate CEO of one of the top 350 firms whose average compensation was $15.2 million in 2013 compared to an elementary school teacher’s average yearly salary of $56,320? A high school teacher, however intelligent, skilled and hardworking, earned less in a year ($58,170) than the nearly $164,000 one basketball player earned in <strong>one day!</strong> And all of our kindergarten teachers in America combined earn less in one year than 25 hedge fund managers.</p> <p>Lee Iacocca, a former Chairman and CEO of Chrysler Corporation said: “In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less.” Our values need adjusting and reversing.</p> <p>Both Houses of Congress didn’t think we were doing enough for our wealthiest Americans and powerful corporations, so the Republican majority voted in April to repeal the estate tax of 5,400 people – the top 2/10th of 1 percent—at a taxpayer cost of $269 billion without a way to pay for it while leaving in place looming budget cuts of $36.5 billion from child and family safety net programs that provide nutrition, housing, child care assistance to help parents work, and Head Start desperately needed by millions of our 14.7 poor million children. And Congressional budget cutters of child safety net programs were so worried that our military whose budget is nearly three times larger than the next highest spender (China) needed more money to defend us from external enemies that they gave another $38 billion in war funding the Pentagon did not ask for through an off budget “war fund” requiring no budget offset.</p> <p>Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German Protestant theologian who died opposing Hitler’s holocaust, said the test of the morality of a society is how it treats its children. We flunk Bonhoeffer’s test every hour of every day by permitting a public school student to drop out of school every 9 seconds and to be corporally punished every 30 seconds; a child to be born into poverty every 35 seconds; to be abused or neglected every 47 seconds; to be born without health insurance every minute; and to be killed or injured by guns every half hour. We have lost more than 174,400 children and youths to gunfire in America since 1963—more than all U.S. military killed in action since World War II. More children under 5 died in 2013 from guns than law enforcement officers in the line of duty. U.S. children and teens are 18 times more likely to die from gun violence than their peers in 25 other high-income countries combined!</p> <p>After a transforming Civil Rights Movement sparked by ordinary Black people with extraordinary courage who wanted their children to have a better education and life, and after sacrificial deaths for the right to vote and fully participate in our democratic processes, and 47 years after Dr. King’s call for a Poor People’s Campaign in 1968 to end poverty in our rich nation and his death while supporting Black Memphis garbage workers seeking to be recognized as men and to be paid decent wages for their indispensable dirty work, we may be teetering again on the brink of a possible second post-Reconstruction era spawned in part by changing demographics, huge wealth and income disparities, money saturated politics, proliferating voter suppression measures, still separate but very unequal schools, massive illiteracy and innumeracy among our Black and Latino school children, and a Cradle to Prison Pipeline™ which traps 1 in 3 Black and 1 in 6 Latino boys born in 2001. Mass incarceration has become the new American apartheid undergirded by a criminal justice system that criminalizes Black boys and men for their color and criminalizes the poor for their poverty in a society that has excluded and failed to prepare so many of them to succeed in our economy. And it is morally obscene that the United States of America let’s 14.7 million children grow up poor, 6.5 million of them in extreme poverty. And the younger children are the poorer they are during their years of greatest brain development: 51.3 percent of Black babies are born into poverty 50 years after Selma.</p> <p>I think it’s time for a third reconstruction era to move us forward and realize Dr. King’s dream. It’s time to wake up and not sleep through another revolution that threatens to take us backwards and to spark a new transforming movement to ensure every child in America a fair and healthy start in life.</p> <p>During his last year calling for a Poor People’s Campaign, Dr. King repeatedly told the parable of the rich man Dives who ignored the poor and sick man Lazarus and reminded us that Dives went to hell not because he was rich but because he did not realize his wealth was his opportunity to bridge the gulf separating him from his brother and allowed Lazarus to become invisible. He warned this could happen to rich America “if we don't use her vast resources to end poverty and make it possible for all of God's children to have the basic necessities of life." On his last day of life he called his mother to give her his next Sunday’s sermon title: It was “Why America May Go to Hell.”</p> <p>I first heard Dr. King in Spelman College’s chapel during my senior year when he told us students in the throes of the sit-in movement to keep moving forward. He said: “If you can’t fly, drive. If you can’t drive, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl. But keep moving forward.” He also told us not to be afraid to take the first step in faith even when you could not see the whole stairway and to leave the stairway to God. I have tried to follow his advice throughout my life.</p> <p>Let us wake up, speak up, stand up and never give up fighting to make America’s dream America’s reality. I want to pass on to our children and grandchildren a better and more just country than we inherited. I want America to realize God’s dream for all humankind—Dr. King’s dream—so wonderfully expressed by South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu.</p> <p><em>And God says, I have a dream. I have a dream that all of my children will discover that they belong in one family—my family, the human family—a family in which there are no outsiders; all are held in the embrace of the one whose love will never let us go, the one who says that each one of us is of incredible worth, that each one of us is precious to God because each of us has their name written on the palms of God’s hands. And God says, there are no outsiders—black, white, red, yellow, short, tall, young, old, rich, poor, gay, lesbian, straight—everyone. All belong. And God says, I have only you to help me realize my dream. Help me.</em></p> <p>We can realize God and Dr. King and Bishop Tutu’s dream if we refuse to give up. I wear every day a necklace with the pictures of two great illiterate but brilliant slave women, Sojourner Truth and Harriett Tubman, who were determined to be free and didn’t wait for anybody else to free them. When I’m having a bad day and want to give up, I think about them and get up again. One of my favorite Sojourner stories occurred when she was speaking out against slavery and second class treatment of women and she got heckled by a White man who told her he didn’t care anymore about her antislavery talk than for a fleabite. She responded, “that’s alright, the Lord willing, I’m gonna keep you scratching!”</p> <p>So often we want to be a big dog and make a big difference but all of us can be a flea and bite and bite and move the biggest dog. Enough determined fleas biting strategically can make the biggest dog uncomfortable. And if some of us are flicked off but keep coming back and continue biting, we can change our nation. So be a flea for justice—for children and for the poor.</p> <p>Let us not sleep through another revolution seeking to turn America backwards. Let us stand up and together create a country and world worthy of the children God has entrusted to our care. Let’s move forward!</p> <p>God speed!</p> <h3></h3></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-05-28T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/28/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2394">Commencement/Reunion Weekend</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Marian Wright Edelman gives the 2015 Commencement speech on May 25, 2015, in Tappan Square.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jennifer Manna</div> </article> </main></body></html>