University of New Hampshire Commencement 2006 Remarks
Dr. Ann Weaver Hart
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Opening Remarks
Welcome to the celebration of the 136th commencement of the University
of New Hampshire with our soon-to-be newest alumni, the Class of
2006. As you can see, we are holding commencement in a brand
new location this year – Memorial Field – due to the record breaking
rainfall we have experienced in New Hampshire over the past several
days. The state’s climatologist and UNH faculty member David
Brown told us on May 16th that Durham had almost 11 inches of rain
which broke the previous record in 1996 of almost 10 inches. I
suspect that the 11 inches has crept a little higher in the past
couple of days! For those of you who attended one of our football
games during a torrential downpour last fall, you saw firsthand the
state of the field in Cowell Stadium as the team played in mud up
to their ankles. We did not want you to have to sit and walk
in those conditions and we appreciate your understanding and flexibility
in our essential relocation of this prestigious ceremony.
Class profile
Today we congratulate 1,850 undergraduates and 574 graduate students
who earned their degrees from 216 different programs. They hail from
36 states (the farthest is Alaska) and 18 foreign countries. Our
youngest graduate is 20, and our oldest is 81. Whatever your age
or interests, your UNH education is the common touch stone that you
share and will take with you into the future. It will serve you well.
Four years
I have a special affinity to this graduating class. We began our first
UNH semester together.
Four years ago, I welcomed many of you to the University at Freshman Convocation, and we marked together the start of a new adventure in discovery. Today, we mark both an ending and a new beginning together, as we depart to explore new horizons.
And, while we were not sure of the events both large and small that would characterize this time here, we anticipated that we would all benefit from the diversity of thought and opinion that would enrich our UNH experience.
We joined together in our corner of the world, taking steps toward the resolution of some of our most troubling issues. We weathered the storm of the post-play-off disturbances in 2003 and began to find solutions with a student-led summit that helped to begin a national conversation. We confronted the more recent hate and gender-related bias incidents, explored the complexities of freedom of speech. We embarked upon a year-long examination of our globalized world and reached out in compassion to those in trouble far away, raising funds for the victims of 2005’s disastrous Hurricane Katrina, assisting in the fight against cancer through Relay for Life, and providing hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to benefit our communities. We mourned the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks together and now live with the tragedies and uncertainties of war.
Technology continues to evolve at a breathtaking pace and infiltrates our daily lives. When we came to UNH in 2002, iPods were just arriving in stores. Today, they have become integral to the way we stay connected to each other and to our wider world. And picture cell phones have become ubiquitous features of our communications landscape.
Our physical landscape is evolving as well. When we arrived, Holloway Commons had yet to be opened, Murkland Hall was under renovation, Gregg Hall was still known as the Environmental Technology building, and the train had finally begun to stop in Durham again.
We have always been a stop for presidential hopefuls. We powered up to host the Presidential Debates in 2003, and then we powered down just this past winter’s holiday break to conserve our precious resources, saving 92,000 kilowatt-hours, or the amount of electricity needed to power eight homes for a year.
We rocketed into the stratosphere, breaking new records for research funding that brings unparalleled opportunity to students and faculty. Our work with NASA secures the University’s place in the constellation of space science research, and the depth of our immersion in the marine sciences places us at the center of emerging aquaculture initiatives that have the capacity to support fishing industries worldwide.
These are only a few examples. No matter where your interests led you, your opportunities have been plentiful and diverse. No matter your path, you have acquired a strong sense of the role you personally play in your own learning and growth, and I know that the education you have received has prepared you to meet the challenges before you, because surely they are innumerable.
Time
The Roman philosopher Seneca believed that time discovers truth. Your
time here has shaped who you are and who you will be. The experience
for each one of you has been unique. As you continue on your
journeys of discovery, you will build on the knowledge and values
that have been formed on the foundation of your University of New
Hampshire education.
I have every confidence that you will use your time to make this world a better place. And I know that you will make your families, your friends, your University, and yourselves proud, because you already do.
Closing Remarks
Congratulations and commendations to each of you!
As the University of New Hampshire’s newest alumni, you join a unique group of individuals who share similar habits of mind. Your thirst for discovery, belief in respectful debate, ability to tap finely honed analytical skills, and commitment to our larger community, set you apart. You face a complex and changing world, but the education that you take with you into that world will be a defining factor that will help you meet its challenges.
Again, congratulations on your accomplishments and best wishes for happy, prosperous, and productive lives.
We all realize that a student seldom goes through college without
the support and help of many others. Will all of you in the audience
who are here to recognize and celebrate with someone in this class
-- parents, spouses, partners, grandparents, children, friends -- please
stand so that the graduates can express their gratitude and appreciation
to all of you? Thank you.
