2010 Georgetown College Commencement Speakers Call on Students to Give Back
May 25, 2010
The cloudy skies hanging over the hilltop did nothing to dampen the mood of Georgetown College's 2010 Commencement exercises. Students lining up in Red Square chanted "Hoya Saxa!" while waiting to process across Copley Lawn.
After the opening Invocation, Georgetown alumnus Dikembe Mutombo (SLL’91) called the College’s 211th graduating class to action. Accepting the honorary degree of Doctor of Human Letters for his philanthropic efforts to fight childhood disease in his native Congo, the former NBA All-Star encouraged graduates to give back both locally and globally. "The Bible says, ‘to whom much is given, much is required’,” said Mutombo. Noting the values of hard work and education that his own parents instilled in him, Mutombo then offered the graduates this challenge:“So when you leave here today with the degree in your hand, what are you going to do to make a difference in this world?"
Graduating senior Sarah Collins, receiving her bachelor's degree in English, echoed Mutombo’s call. "Our motto is men and women for others, and I think that's stressed throughout," Collins explained. Heading off to Boston University Law School in the fall, Collins pointed out that her time at Georgetown shaped her character. "I think it really fosters a well rounded life," she explained. "(The Georgetown experience) prepares you to not only to do well academically and in your career, but in life."
Nearby in the crowd, Art Costales and his family stood with a banner unfurled in honor of his son Timothy Costales, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. The proud father explained that he had flown back from Quatar to surprise his son at graduation. "I came in from the Middle East last night—I had a fourteen hour trip,” he said, beaming. “He didn't know I was coming." The pride of friends and family was palpable as the graduates stood for their applause at the ceremony’s end.
The College Commencement activities began on Friday, May 21, with the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics award ceremony, recognizing the achievements of graduating seniors in the fields of language, comparative literature, and linguistics.
FLL Salutatorian gave the Emily Nicole Pace, who also won the Alliance Francais Award, gave the graduation address to her fellow FLL graduates. “I came to Georgetown declared as a French major, and have not for one moment regretted my decision,” she said. FLL majors she noted, “have developed a skill that puts the world at our fingertips – one that brings us to a greater understanding of societies and what they value, making us prepared to solve and mediate …issues.” For Ms. Pace being an FLL major is “about understanding humanity in its own words.”
For Professor Deborah Lesko Baker, recipient of the 2010 FLL Distinguished Service Award, the ceremony “confirmed that the FLL is a special place” within the University. For the last twenty-one years, Lesko Baker has reveled in the “richness and joy, intellect, ethics and compassion” she has found both inside and outside the classroom at Georgetown. Drawing analogies to both baseball and Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey,” she extolled the graduates to view the College “as your home that will cyclically draw you back. (I) wish you many exhilarating trips and (hope) for your return.”
The college-wide Tropaia awards for academic excellence followed the FLL ceremony on Friday. Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., received the Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Award for Faculty Excellence, presented annually to a professor admired and respected by students for his or her service to Georgetown. In his remarks Rev. Schall explained to the graduates the importance of continued learning. “We do not leave these halls having learned everything,” he cautioned, “Rather we leave hopefully prepared and eager to know what is true, what is important, when we see or hear it as we progress through our lives.”
Addressing the crowd assembled in Gaston Hall, College valedictorian and Regent’s Medal for Academic Excellence recipient Kelsea Reich described how coming to Georgetown allowed both her and her classmates to “(live) in the midst of things we once only read about, and where national news is now local news. We are so fortunate to be graduating from a university where such things are possible,” she said. She extolled her graduating class to “remember that it is not just about succeeding for ourselves anymore. As Georgetown graduates, we have a higher responsibility to reinvest our gift of knowledge.” “Let’s go and succeed in being women and men for others,” she concluded. By the end of their commencement weekend, the newly minted alumni stood ready to carry out that charge.
- 2010 College Commencement Speaker Dikembe Mutombo’s Remarks to the Graduating Class
- Bunn Award Winner for Faculty Excellence James V. Schall, S. J.'s Address to the Class of 2010
- 2010 College Valedictorian Kelsea Reich's Graduation Address speech
Photo: A Georgetown senior poses with mascot Jack the Bulldog. Photo by Phil Humnicky.
