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RACHEL SCHUMAN: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 10th annual January Graduate Recognition Ceremony. I am Rachel Schuman, the senior class commencement chair, and member of the senior class council. The academic procession is about to begin. Please take your places and your seats and clear the aisles. Also, please take a moment to make sure that the ringers on your cellular phones are turned off. Thank you.
We would also like to ask that you remain in your seats during the ceremony. A video is being produced of the entire event and can be viewed at CornellCast later next week. There will be opportunities to take photos with your student after the ceremony. Thank you.
At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce the readers from each college who will be announcing the degree candidates' names today. From the graduate school, Associate Dean Sarah Wicker. From the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Assistant Registrar Paula Miller. From the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Kevin Harris. From the School of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Associate Dean Barry Perlus. From the college of Hotel Administration, Associate Dean Stephen Carvell.
From the College of Human Ecology, Associate Dean Carol Bisogni. From the College of Engineering, Associate Dean Charles Seyler. From the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Associate Dean Donald Viands. And from the College of Arts and Sciences, Assistant Dean Kenneth Gabbert. Thank you for coming and please join us at the reception afterwards.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Good morning, families, friends, colleagues, and students. We've gathered here today to honor our students who are completing their academic achievements at Cornell University. Please be seated. Everybody is seated.
[APPLAUSE]
It's my pleasure to introduce to you the president of Cornell University, David J. Skorton.
[APPLAUSE]
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Professor Walcott. And good morning, everyone. On behalf of Cornell University and the deans, faculty, and staff of its schools and colleges, I am pleased to welcome you to this morning's ceremony. Before we begin, though, I ask us all to observe a moment of silence to honor the memory of those who lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and who will never have the opportunity to come together as we are today to celebrate one of life's great milestones.
Even as we all struggle to comprehend this recent tragedy, we are heartened by the sense of community that surrounds us all in Barton Hall this morning. I personally congratulate each and every student who will receive a Cornell degree next month. Of all the things we do at Cornell, of all the things we do at colleges across the United States, nothing is as optimistic an endeavor as preparing the next generation to make their marks on the world nor as joyful as a college commencement. Please join me in a first recognition of these splendid degree candidates.
[APPLAUSE]
Of course, I want to give credit where credit is due and welcome the families and guests of the graduates, those who really get the credit for these degrees.
[APPLAUSE]
And I want to ask you again to join me in honoring the faculty and the staff of Cornell University, who have shepherded your students through these very important formative years.
[APPLAUSE]
The candidates for January degrees this year, as always, are a multifaceted group ethnically and geographically, in their career interests, and in every other way. There are 916 candidates, just over half, earning graduate degrees. They represent to all seven of Cornell's undergraduate colleges as well as the graduate school and the Johnson Graduate School of Management.
I'm proud to say that several of the graduates are also Cornell university employees who have earned their degrees by participating in our Employee Degree Program. Among the bachelor's degree candidates, fully 20% are international students, as are half of the graduate and professional degree candidates, continuing this university's rich and nearly 150-year history of attracting scholars in every field from every corner of the globe. This is one of many, many ways that Cornell University has and will continue to impact the world.
And the world has never been in greater need of the skills and perspectives that you graduates can provide. The daily news reports provide a sobering litany of our problems and challenges-- global climate change and poverty and turmoil in the Middle East and doubts about the future of the European Union, even as even as it earned this year's Nobel Peace Prize, a host of programs dangling at the edge of the fiscal cliff in this country, and again, the senseless violence that has stunned and saddened us all.
Yet looking out at this sea of caps and gowns here in Barton this morning, I am optimistic not only for you graduates, but because of your skills and youth and energy, I am optimistic for all of us. I thank you, the students, for your activism and entrepreneurial thinking and commitment to public engagement that so many of you have already shown so convincingly in your years at Cornell, whether through the more than 400,000 hours of community service that Cornell students provide every year or through other initiatives that you have chosen to pursue in groups or as committed individuals.
Members of the class of 2013, both undergraduate and graduate students, have already contributed so much to beginning to lift the world's burdens, from starting a company, for example, that makes solar lights out of plastic bottles for people without electricity in the developing world, to raising funds, for another example, so that orphans in Uganda and Haiti can attend school, to teaching in the Cornell Prison Education Program reaching inmates right here in central New York. I have no doubt that each of you will be well prepared, as a result of your Cornell education and your Cornell experiences, to be active and effective and forward-thinking in helping to address the challenges that we all share.
It's been said that we make a living from what we get, but we make a life from what we give. And in this season, gratitude and giving, which is part of so many of our cultural traditions, you, each of you, have every reason for confidence about the kind of life you will lead and the role that you can play, and I hope you will play, in the world.
And as you move, each of you, to the next stage of life's journey, you have earned all of our congratulations and good wishes. And we look to you to create a better future for yourselves, for your loved ones, and for the world. Good luck, and stay in touch. And now it is my pleasure to turn the podium over to Senior Class President Anna Fowler. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
ANNA FOWLER: Good morning. Thank you to everyone who is here today-- President Skorton, distinguished faculty and staff, parents, siblings, friends, and especially to my peers who are graduating today. My name is Anna Fowler, and I am the president of the class of 2013.
I, like my peers, have struggled through prelims, job searches, essays, and problem sets, and I'm happy to be nearly through many struggles. As we relish the completion of such a challenging yet rewarding experience, we reminisce about fond moments-- the spring breaks, the weekends out with friends, the a capella concerts, the slope days, and the many more happy times we have had here.
But thinking back, you also realize how many times you wished a test would be over or that it would finally be Saturday or that spring break would get here faster. As freshmen, we wish we were seniors. We wished for our 21st birthdays to get there sooner and for parties to get there faster. Some of you may have wished this day would get here earlier, obviously, considering many of you are graduating a semester early.
But what happens in between the moments we so look forward to are the times we learn the most, gain the most valuable experiences, and prove to ourselves what we are really capable of. While studying for the most grueling prelim, you gain the greatest knowledge. While putting in volunteer hours for a program or event, you gain incredible experiences and meet new and diverse people. And when you struggle through personal strife or battle through rejection or defeat, you gain fortitude and wisdom that will not only better prepare you for the future, but you also understand just how much you are truly capable of taking on.
You learn to appreciate those things you once took for granted. Everything in life is not as exciting as a holiday or a party, but those moments in between, you will find the courage, knowledge, and grace that define your character and make you you. Hard times and difficult periods may be inevitable, but it is so important to stay optimistic throughout and not wish your life away.
We have all spent years preparing. In high school, we prepared to get into college. In college, we prepared to get a job or move on to higher education. And while we move forward into whatever next steps we may take, we will plan and prepare for promotions, honors, awards, and transitions. And throughout all this preparation and progress, it is crucial to appreciate every aspect of the journey we create for ourselves.
While you may not be able to control every situation or prevent every bad thing from happening, what you can do is decide how you will respond. You and you alone control how you will react. Whether you stand up and fight for what you believe in or give up in the face of adversity, the choice will always be yours. But by fighting, you instantly improve the odds that you will find success and triumph over whatever roadblock you happen to be facing.
And if you fight, you can greatly advance the potential of this world. We are some of the brightest minds and hardest-working people there are. Whether we have studied finance, biology, engineering, agriculture, or ecology, we have all gained a prestigious education in fields that need improvement.
Yes, we live in an imperfect world, and no, it may not always be easy. But if you bring your intelligence and efforts forth, I have no doubt that you will play an instrumental role in making the progress this world so desperately needs. In conclusion, I quote the famous academic and author Leo Roston, who stated, "the purpose of life is to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have it make some difference that we lived at all." We are a group of amazingly intelligent, well-educated, hardworking, and talented people, and I am so honored and humbled to have been able to get to know so many of you. I congratulate you and thank you in advance for all of the wonderful contributions you were are destined to make. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Anna. We will now recognize the January degree candidates individually. I will call each dean forward and ask the candidates to rise one row at a time and approach the platform. At this time, the reader for the first college will approach the microphone near the stairs. And will the vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, Barbara Knuth, please step forward, and the candidates from the Graduate School approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, vice provost and Dean Knuth. Will the Associate Dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Douglas Stayman, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Associate Dean Stayman.
[APPLAUSE]
Will the Associate Dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Robert Smith, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Associate Dean Stayman. Will the associate dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Robert Smith, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform? Will the Dean of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Kent Kleinman, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Dean Kleinman. Will the Dean of the School of Hotel Administration, Michael Johnson, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Dean Johnson. Will the Dean of the College of Human Ecology, Alan Matthias, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Dean Matthias. Will the Dean of the College of Engineering, Lance Collins, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Dean Collins. Will the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kathryn Boor, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Dean Boor. Will the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Peter LePage, please step forward and the candidates approach the platform?
PRESENTER: [READING NAMES]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: Thank you, Dean LePage.
[APPLAUSE]
Will the assembly please stand up for the singing of the alma mater?
ALL: (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!
[APPLAUSE]
PROFESSOR WALCOTT: This concludes our recognition ceremony. Please remain standing while the platform party, faculty, administrators, trustees, and candidates recess to the reception area. Everybody is welcome to attend the reception. Thank you for attending, and safe travels home.
[APPLAUSE]
January 2013 graduates and their families and friends gathered in Barton Hall for a recognition event and reception December 15, 2012.
