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[CROWD CHATTERING] SPEAKER 1: Ladies and gentlemen, the first of the academic procession has arrived!
[APPLAUSE]
Leading the procession is the University Marshal, Professor Charles Walcott. Following the university Marshall is the banner for the class of 2019. The class banner bearers are Amanda Derman and Dana Horowitz, class officers. The class marshals are Charlotte Lefkovitz and Andrew Semmes.
First to arrive behind the class banner are the PhD Candidates of the Graduate School. The Symbol Banner Bearer is carried by Michael Fulcher. Candidates are led by the Dean of the Graduate School, Barbara A. Knuth and faculty marshals Professor Nerissa Russell and Professor Kieran Donaghy. The PhD Banner Bearers are Marianna Amorin and Laura Thomas. The Degree Marshals are Aravind Natarajan and Samantha Carouso.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the PhD Degree Candidates from the Graduate School!
[APPLAUSE]
Next are the Master's Degree Candidates of the Graduate School. The Master Banner Bearers are Emily Miller and Hirokazu Togo. The degree marshals are Renu Rajendra Deshmukh and Joseph De Los Santos. Degree candidates from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar participated in a separate commencement ceremony in early May. Also, degree candidates from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City will participate in a commencement ceremony on May 30th. Included among the graduates who will be conferred today are those who carried out their studies at Cornell Tech in New York City.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, if there is room in your row, please move to the center of the row to make room for others. Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the master's degree candidate from the Graduate School.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next are the candidates from the College of Veterinary Medicine led by Dean Lorin Warnick and colleague banner bearers Emma LaVigne and Alicia Chisholm. The degree marshals are Nicholas Walsh and Alison Tuchrello. The symbol banner bearer is Steven Yang. Next is the Law School led by Dean Eduardo Peñalver. The college banner bearers are Jared Ham and Amanda Wong. Degree marshals are Fouad Debs and Kristina Hurley. The symbol banner bearer is Daniel Neuman.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next, the SC Johnson College of Business comprised of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, the School of Hotel Administration, and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is led by Kevin F. Hallock. The college banner bearers are Helen Julie Gagliardi and Natasha Anne VanWright.
[CHATTER]
Next the MBA and MPS s degree candidates from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management are led by Dean Mark Nelson. The college banner bearers are Chenci Xie and Billy Murch Elliot. The degree marshals are Symone Williams and Sarah Schmitt. The symbol banner bearer is Catherine Brown.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the MBA and MPS degree candidates from the Johnson Graduate School of Management.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now entering the stadium you are the first of the college degree candidates. The School of Hotel Administration is led by Dean Kate Walsh and college banner bearers Rebecca Lim and Lingling Liu. Degree marshals are Carmel Bendit-Shtull and Justin Hunter Leff. The symbol banner bearer is Jeremy Yan.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the School of Hotel Administration.
[APPLAUSE]
[CHATTER]
Next the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is led by Dean Lynn Wooten and college banner bearers Arianne Greenstein and Emily Ma. The degree marshals are Fredrick Kauber and Charlton Leung. The symbol banner bearer is Ariel Ataras.
[CHATTER]
[MUSIC - "POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE"]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the graduates from the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC - "POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE"]
Now entering the stadium, led by Dean Kathryn J. Boor are the candidates of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. College banner bearers are Mengyuan Li and Sarah Toner. Degree marshals are Aaron LaViolette and Sheng Qian. The symbol banner bearer is Samuel furnace.
[CHATTER]
[APPLAUSE]
[CHATTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to say we have a sold-out house. We ask that those in the bleacher seating move toward the center of your row in order to accommodate guests entering crescent seating. Thank you very much.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the degree candidates from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[APPLAUSE]
[CHATTER]
Next the School of Industrial and Labor Relations led by Dean Alexander Colvin. And the college banner bearers are Alden Aikens and Rachel Chiu. The degree marshals are Megan Gee and Barron William. The symbol banner there is Brittany Garcia.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the degree candidates from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 2: (SINGING) Cornell! Far above Cayuga's waters, hear those chiming bells. Oh, I'm longing and yearning and always returning to my old Cornell.
[MUSIC - "MY OLD CORNELL"]
[CHATTER]
The College of Architecture, Art and Planning is next, being led into the stadium by Dean Meejin Yoon and college banner bearers Zhisheng Ivy Deng and Ehab Ebeid. Representing the three degree programs are Nicholas Cowan, Yukimi Ohashi and Steven Song Ren. The symbol banner bearer is Evan McDowell.
[CHATTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now entering the stadium are the degree candidates from the College of Human Ecology, led by Rachel Dunifon and college banner bearers Shuting Lu and Shusmita Roy. Degree marshals are Sabrina Gonzalez and Kevin Wong. The symbol banner bearer is Eric Zhang.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the degree candidates from the College of Human Ecology.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next the College of Engineering is led into the stadium by Dean Lance Collins and college banner bearers Nicholas Comly and Nicole Kwok. The degree marshals are Praveen Bagavandoss and Akshay Kadhiresan. The symbol banner bearer is Jillian Whiting.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHATTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: Ladies and gentlemen, if at all possible, we ask that those in the bleacher seating move toward the center. Become a little more friendly with the person next to you so we can get some more people to be able to see the ceremony from the crescent. Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the degree candidates from the College of Engineering.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next, the degree candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences.
[APPLAUSE]
They are led into the stadium by Dean Ray Jayawardhana and college banner bearers Todd Lensman and Benjamin Roberts. Degree marshals are Katherine Lynch and Nur Sultan. The symbol banner bearer is Yibo Sun.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Once again, the degree candidate from the College of Arts and Sciences.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next, the senior class council banner is being carried by John Alvarez and Andy Yu, and members of the senior class council.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now entering are the members of the university faculty. They are led by the dean of the university faculty Charles Van Loan. The faculty marshals are Professor Steve Carvell, Professor John Hermanson, Professor Drew Noden, and Professor Ifeoma Ajunwa.
Behind the dean of the faculty are this year's Stephen H Weiss Presidential Fellow awardees, Professor George Boyer, Professor Dexter Kozen, Professor Poppy McLeod, and Professor Kelly Zamudio.
They are followed by the Stephen H Weiss Junior Fellow awardees, associate professor Kate Griffith and associate professor David M Smith.
They are followed by the Stephen H Weiss Provost's Teaching Fellows, senior lecturer Rhonda Gilmore and senior lecturer Bruce Land.
The Weiss Fellows are joined by colleagues of the Cornell University faculty.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
At this time, we acknowledge and thank the Cornell University faculty.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The members of the administrative staff of the university are next, led by administrator marshals Professor Qi Wang and Professor David Gries.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next in the procession are members of the university's board of trustees. The trustees are led by Chairman Robert S Harrison. The trustee marshals are Professor Fred Schneider and Professor Donald Viands.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And now, will everyone please stand? At this time, the university marshal Charles Walcott will escort the mace bearer, Professor Bruce Lewenstein and Cornell University's president, Martha E Pollack to their places on the platform.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC - "MY OLD CORNELL"]
SINGERS: (SINGING) Oh, I want to go back to the old days
Those good old days on the hill
Back to my Cornell,
For that's where they all yell
Cornell, I yell, Cornell, Cornell!
Far above Cayuga's waters,
I hear those shining bells
Oh, I'm longing and yearning
And always returning
To my old Cornell.
[CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: President Pollack, for the 151st time, candidates for degrees from Cornell University have gathered for the conferral of degrees and to celebrate this commencement. Members of the board of trustees, the faculty, administrative staff, degree candidates, and guests are all in their places. The assembly is hereby called to order.
Would you please rise and join the Cornell University Glee Club and Chorus, accompanying by the Cornell University Wind Symphony, in singing the Star Spangled Banner?
[MUSIC - "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER"]
SINGERS: (SINGING) Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Everyone, please be seated.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Cornell's 151st commencement. Now, if any of you are thinking, oh, we miss the sesquicentennial-- that's 150th graduation-- by just one year, I want you all to know that last year it rained so hard that when I looked out at the graduates in the stands, I felt like I was speaking to 26,000 very enthusiastic umbrellas.
[LAUGHTER]
So while you might not have a nice round number on your commencement program, what you get is a day in which we can all wear our shades. Put them on.
[APPLAUSE]
In fact, I think it's warm enough we're going to remove the cap, too.
Thank you all for coming. Before we continue I would like to take a serious moment to remember those who are not with us today, the friends whose memory we honor with an empty chair on today's field. Thank you.
Since this is our 151st commencement, that, of course, means that Cornell's very first commencement was held 150 years ago. It was, as you can imagine, a significantly smaller affair than the Cornell graduation today is. There was no stadium, no Glee Club, chorus or wind symphony, no caps or gowns, and definitely no livestream.
But I have to admit that the parents of those first graduates did have one notable advantage. It was a lot easier for them to pick their own children out of the graduating class because there were only eight of them. Today it's a little bit harder for family and friends to find their graduates in a sea of over 5,500 mortar boards, or for graduates to spot their parents among the 22,000 people in the stands today, but no graduation speech would be complete without acknowledging the importance of family and friends.
A Cornell education is rigorous and a Cornell degree is a tremendous achievement. You all worked so hard to get here today, and we celebrate you and we celebrate the people who helped you along the way. You are here today because of your own talent and perseverance, and because of the love and support of your parents and children, your grandparents, your siblings, your spouses, your partners, your friends.
It would be impossible to express enough gratitude for what they have done for all of you. But impossible doesn't stop Cornellians. So graduates, I would like you all to please stand up. Don't do anything else yet, just stand up. OK, now second step, if you know where your family is sitting, stand and turn towards them. And otherwise, just turn in the general direction. OK.
[CHEERING]
But wait, but wait, but wait! You guys are perfect Cornellians. You do not know how to take instructions.
[LAUGHTER]
Here's what we're going to do. On the count of three-- on my count of three, you're going to show thank you, but you're going to do it in whatever your native language is. And that means there should be 40 different languages, OK? One, two, three.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
All right.
[APPLAUSE]
Now you can sit back down.
I do want to talk a little bit more about those eight students who graduated from the first Cornell class 150 years ago. All of them were transfers, because, remember, the university had only been in operation one year. Cornell, at that time, had only two completed buildings, Cascadilla Hall, in what is now College Town, and Morrill Hall, which is still right there in the [INAUDIBLE] quad. In between, there was a notoriously muddy field, and wandering that field were cows.
So if you think it's hard--
[LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE]
Yes, and there weren't veterinarians to take care of them, either. If you think it's hard to climb up from College Town onto the campus today, think about trying to do that while avoiding a whole lot of cow pies.
Cornell back then was tiny, it was remote, and it was radical. We tend to forget that now, accustomed as we are to the enormous, world class university that Cornell is today, but Cornell's founding principles were so radical that many saw the entire place as deeply suspect.
Morris Bishop, an early Cornell alumnus who went on to become a professor and then historian here, wrote that "those who chose the new radical college were likely to be the self-willed, the adventurous, those who took ill grace with the advice of their elders." In fact, if you're wondering what brought those first eight students to Cornell, apparently at least some of them came after having been warned so strongly against the radical new university in Ithaca, that they got curious and then they transferred here.
I myself came to Cornell just over two years ago, along with those of you who arrived as masters or transfer students. And I came to discover, as all of you have discovered, what is unique and what is still so radical about Cornell. Much of it lies in Ezra Cornell's words, which we all know, "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."
Even today, those words sound incredibly ambitious, but back then they were downright revolutionary, the rallying cry of a university designed to change not just the lives of its students but the future of our nation. Remember that Cornell received its charter in 1865, just a few weeks after the end of the American Civil War. The country was divided, and that division threatened to destroy us. It was against that backdrop that Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White developed their shared version of a university, an American university, built on American ideals of opportunity and equality, a place that they believed would help bring America forward into a new era.
If the genesis of Cornell can be traced to one place and one time, perhaps it would be the afternoon in Albany in January 1865 when Cornell and White, both state senators, were walking together down the stairs of the Capitol building. Ezra Cornell, born poor and raised poor, had made a fortune on the telegraph. He said to White that he had about a half a million dollars, worth much more than it is today, and that that money was surplus to the needs of his family.
He was grappling with a great question. In those dark days for the nation, how could he use that money to do the most good? Senator White might have said, to build hospitals for the wounded or orphanages for the children of the fallen. He might have suggested any number of charitable ideas to help the poor.
But what he said was build a university. And not just any kind of university. Build a new kind of university on an entirely new American model. A university created on the premise, then still novel, that education was a public good, not just for the individual student, but for everyone. A university that would foster innovation, creativity, and the sharing of ideas and understanding across all of society. A university that recognized that the fewer boundaries we place on our learning, the better off we all are.
When you get right down to it, Ezra Cornell bet his fortune on one idea, that a university that is open to people and to acknowledge provides a better education and ultimately builds a better world than a university that is narrow in whom it will accept or what it will teach. I think that all of you here today would agree that it's a bet he won.
But today, when the importance of diversity and of interdisciplinary in education is anything but a radical idea, we might still ask, so what's so special about Cornell? It's a fair question about the Cornell story, and to answer it, I'd like to tell you a Cornell story of my own.
A few weeks after I was inaugurated as Cornell's president, I opened my email one morning and I saw I had an invitation from Chris Kim, Cornell's director of orchestras. He was inviting me to speak. But it wasn't the kind of speaking I was used to doing. He wanted to know if I would be willing to join the Cornell Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Gunter Shuler's Journey Into Jazz. It's an amazing piece written for a full orchestra and a narrator who reads a story along with the music, and Chris wanted me to serve as the narrator.
My first thought was, wow, that sounds like fun. My second thought, and my third, and my fourth, and my fifth were about all the ways this could go wrong. After all, I'm a computer scientist whose musical training consists solely of elementary school violin lessons that my parents made me take, and then out of kindness to me and the neighbors, let me stop taking.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm not kidding.
I'm used to speaking in front of crowds, but this was something entirely new, and the chance of disaster seemed uncomfortably high. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin the performance that our talented students had worked so hard to prepare for. Still, as Cornell's new president I was spending my days encouraging people to try new things, to build out of the box partnerships, to push their own boundaries. So I swallowed hard and I called my dad to thank him for the violin lessons which had finally come in handy, because at least I could read music, and I began working on my part, telling the story of a boy named Eddie who learns to make music first with his trumpet, then with other players, and finally, with his full self.
A few weeks later, my fears mostly gone, I told the story of Eddie's journey to a packed audience in Bailey Hall. The student musicians were amazing. I didn't ruin anything, I don't think, and it will always be one of my warmest memories of my early days at Cornell.
But looking back at it now, what I think about when I remember Journey Into Jazz isn't how nervous I was or that it all turned out OK. It's how much Eddie's story has to say about the ethos of any person, any study, about what's still so special about Cornell. Eddie's singular obsession, his whole goal in life, is learning to play the jazz trumpet. And what he learned was that he couldn't learn jazz trumpet-- at least, not at the level he wanted-- just by playing the trumpet. He had to learn from the oboes, the pianos, and the saxophones. He had to learn from different orchestras, traditions, and styles. He had to learn how to make his music with others before he could make his music his own.
To me, it's an amazing metaphor for how all of us learn and explore, and how any of us learn deeply and well. Not just from each other, but with each other, through experimentation and innovation, across fields and disciplines, through our differences and our diversity, with everything that makes us who we are. Just as an orchestra needs every instrument to create its fullest sound, so does Cornell need the diversity of its community and the breadth of our fields of study to create the fullest environment for learning.
Any person, any study has always been at the heart of what makes us Cornell, and perhaps that idea that is at the heart of Cornell is also at the heart of why education and universities like ours matter more than ever before. You all came to Cornell for your degrees, and today you have them. But each of you came to Cornell for something more, as well. You came to explore the world as you did not yet know it, to learn with and from and among people and ideas that you had never met, to master the questions of life, as Ezra Cornell put it, "with success and with honor."
Today, as you get ready to start the next stage of your life, whatever your goals, whatever your paths, I won't give you advice. But I will make one request. In fact, drawing on yesterday's talk with Bill Nye, I'll make two requests. First, vote. Second-- first, vote.
[APPLAUSE]
Make your voice known.
Second, I will ask you to remember, when you think back on your time here, not just about the university as you have known it, but also about its radical origins. About the belief of Ezra Cornell that spreading truth and knowledge, openness and curiosity, through generations of graduates like yourselves was possibly the greatest good he could possibly do.
Graduates, Cornell will always be a part of you, and you will always be a part of Cornell. Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
[SINGING IN LATIN]
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: We will now proceed to the conferring of degrees granted in course. The first groups to be presented to the president for conferring of degrees are the graduate candidates who have completed work in the Graduate School or in one of the professional schools.
Will the dean of the Graduate School, Barbara A Knuth, please step forward, and will the candidates for the doctoral degree from the Graduate School please rise and the degree marshals come up onto the platform?
BARBARA A KNUTH: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these outstanding candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and are duly recommended by the faculty of the Graduate School for the appropriate degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Musical Arts, Doctor of the Science of Law.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Knuth. Upon the recommendation of the faculty and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the doctoral degree appropriate to your field of advanced study and research, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Cornell University welcomes the new doctors of philosophy and doctors of science of law to the ancient and universal company of scholars. Will the doctors please be seated?
[APPLAUSE]
Will the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Lorin Warnick, please step forward?
[CHEERING]
And will the candidates for the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine please rise and the degree marshals come up onto the platform?
[CHEERING]
LORIN WARNICK: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine for the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Warnick. Upon the recommendation of the faculty and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the degree Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations.
[CHEERING]
(CHANTING) DVM! DVM! DVM! DVM! DVM! DVM!
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the doctors of veterinary medicine please be seated?
[LAUGHTER]
And will the dean of the law school, Eduardo Penalver please step forward? Will the candidates for the degrees of Doctor of Law, Doctor of Law and Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law, and Master of Laws please rise and the degree marshals come up onto the platform?
[CHEERING]
EDUARDO PENALVER: We call that the long arm of the law.
[LAUGHTER]
President Pollack, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and are duly recommended by the faculty of the Law School for the degrees of Doctor of Law, Doctor of Law and Masters of Laws in International and Comparative Law, and Master of Laws.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Penalver. Upon the recommendation of the faculty and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the degree Doctor of Law, Doctor of Law and Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law, and Master of Laws with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the Doctor of Law, Doctor of Law and Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law, and the Master of Law graduates please be seated?
Will the dean of the Graduate School Barbara A Knuth please return to the microphone, and will the candidates for the master degree in studies that have been directed by the Graduate School please rise, and will the degree marshals come up onto the platform?
[CHEERING]
BARBARA A KNUTH: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these accomplished candidates who have filled the requirements and are duly recommended by the faculty of the graduate school for the master degree, be it Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Health Administration--
[CHEERING]
Master of Industrial and Labor Relations, Master of Landscape Architecture--
[CHEERING]
Master of Professional Studies, Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Health, Master of Regional Planning, Master of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Knuth. Upon the recommendation of the faculty and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the master degree to which you are entitled, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the masters please be seated? Will the Dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson College of Business, Kevin Hallock, please come forward.
KEVIN HALLOCK: Will the Dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Mark Nelson please come forward, and will the candidates for the degree of Master of Business Administration and Master of Professional Studies from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management please rise, and will the degree marshals please come up onto the platform?
[CHEERING]
MARK NELSON: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management for the degrees of Master of Business Administration and Master of Professional Studies.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Nelson. Upon the recommendation of the faculty and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the Master of Business Administration degree with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the Master of Business Administration graduates and the Master of Professional Studies please be seated? Included among the graduates today are those who completed their studies through the faculty of computing and information science. Will the degree candidates in computing and information science and dean of the faculty of computing and information science, Greg Morrisett, please stand? Will the candidates please be seated?
[APPLAUSE]
The next groups to be admitted to the fellowship of educated men and women are the candidates for college degrees. Will the two class marshals representing the entire Cornell University senior class please come up onto the platform?
[APPLAUSE]
In a moment, each college group will be called to rise for presentation to the president and then asked to be seated. After all the college degree groups have been presented to the president, all the groups will be asked to rise again for the awarding of degrees. The degree marshals for the college degree groups will come forward to the base of the platform as each group is called.
Will the dean of the SC College of Business, Kevin Hallock, please come forward?
KEVIN HALLOCK: Will the dean of the School of Hotel Administration, Kate Walsh, please come forward?
[CHEERING]
And will the candidates for the degree of Master of Management and Hospitality and Bachelor of Science from the School of Hotel Administration please rise? And will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform?
[APPLAUSE]
KATE WALSH: President Pollack, I have the distinct honor to present these exuberant candidates who have fulfilled the requirements--
[CHEERING]
--and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the School of Hotel Administration for the degree of Master of Management and Hospitality and Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Walsh.
SINGERS: Will the candidates please be seated?
Will the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kathryn J Boor, please come forward and join Dean Hallock in recognizing the graduates of the Charles H Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management?
The Dyson school is a shared program of the SC Johnson College of Business and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
KEVIN HALLOCK: Will the dean of the Charles H Dyson school of Applied Economics and Management, Lynn Wooten, please come forward, and will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the Charles H Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management please rise, and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform?
[CHEERING]
LYN WOOTEN: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Charles Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the SC Johnson College of Business for the degree of the Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Wooten.
[CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated?
Will the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kathryn J Boor, please step forward and will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences please rise and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform?
[APPLAUSE]
KATHRYN J BOOR: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these unstoppable candidates--
[CHEERING]
--who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Boor.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated? Well the dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Alexander Colvin, please come forward and will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations please rise and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform?
[APPLAUSE]
ALEXANDER COLVIN: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these amazing candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Colvin.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated? and will the dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Meejin Yoon, please come forward? Will the candidates for the degree of Master of Architecture, Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Science from the College of Architecture, Art and Planning please rise, and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform?
MEEJIN YOON: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these radical candidates who have fulfilled their requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning for the degree of Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Yoon.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated? Will the dean of the College of Human Ecology, Rachel Dunifon, please come forward and will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the College of Human Ecology please rise and will the degree marshals come to the front of the platform?
[APPLAUSE]
RACHEL DUNIFON: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these fantastic candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Human Ecology for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Dunifon.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated? Will the dean of the College of Engineering, Lance R Collins, please come forward?
[CHEERING]
And will the candidates for the degree of Master of Engineering and Bachelor of Science from the College of Engineering please rise?
[CHEERING]
And the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform.
LANCE R COLLINS: President Pollack, I have the honor to present these magnificent candidates who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Engineering for the degree of Master of Engineering and Bachelor of Science.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Collins.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the magnificent candidates please be seated?
[LAUGHTER]
Will the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Ray Jayawardhana, please come forward, and will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences please rise and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform?
[APPLAUSE]
RAY JAYAWARDHANA: President Pollack, having saved the best for last--
[CHEERING]
I have the distinct honor to present these sensational candidates who have fulfilled their requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences to the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
MARTHA E POLLACK: Thank you, Dean Jayawardhana.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will all college degree candidates please rise at this time?
[APPLAUSE]
MARTHA E POLLACK: It is my privilege to recognize the unstoppable, fantastic, magnificent, stupendous, amazing, amazing candidates recommended by the deans and faculties of these several schools and colleges for the appropriate college degrees. By the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the college degree appropriate to your field of study with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations.
[CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will all the college degree marshals please come up onto the stage to shake hands with President Pollack?
Please be seated while the Glee Club and Chorus sing the Evening Song.
[MUSIC - "EVENING SONG"]
SINGERS: (SINGING) When the sun fades far away
In the crimson of the west
And the voices of the day
Murmur low and sink to rest
Music with the twilight falls
O'er the dreaming lake and dell
'Tis an echo from the walls
Of our own, our fair Cornell.
Welcome night and welcome rest
Fading music fare thee well
Joy to all we loved the best
Love to thee our fair Cornell.
Music with the twilight falls
O'er the dreaming lake and dell
'Tis an echo from the walls
Of our own, our fair Cornell.
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the assembly please stand for the singing of the Alma Mater with the Cornell Glee Club and Chorus and accompanied by the Wind Symphony?
[MUSIC - "ALMA MATER"]
SINGERS: (SINGING) Far above Cayuga's waters
With its waves of blue
Stands our noble alma mater
Glorious to view
Lift the chorus, speed it onward
Loud her praises tell
Hail to thee, our alma mater
Hail, all hail Cornell!
Far above the busy humming
Of the bustling town
Reared against the arch of heaven
Looks she proudly down
Lift the chorus, speed it onward
Loud her praises tell
Hail to thee, our alma mater
Hail, all hail Cornell!
[CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: This concludes the 151st Cornell University commencement. Thank you for being with us, and congratulate our new graduates. Please--
[APPLAUSE]
Please remain standing during the recessional until the faculty have left the field. Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SINGERS: (SINGING) C-O-R-N-E-double L, win the game and then ring the bell
What's the big intrigue?
We're the best in the Ivy League,
Rah, rah rah,
Score the point that puts us ahead
Knock 'em dead, Big Red
One, two, three, four,
What are we for,
Can't you tell?
Old Cornell!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Go Red!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(SINGING) Give my regard to Davy,
Remember me to Teefy Crane
Tell all the pikers on the hill
That I'll be back again
Tell them just how I busted
Lapping up the high, high ball
We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's
When I get back next fall.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Commencement procession and ceremony for Class of 2019 undergraduate and graduate students on Sunday, May 26, 2019 at Schoellkopf Stadium.
