Transcript
0:03 now we get to something really fun as soon as I knew that this would be my last Welsley commencement as the president presiding here I also knew that nothing would give me greater pleasure than to share the deis on this special day with meline Albright
0:39 thank you thank you thank you very much thank you thank you thank you so much thank you thank you thank you very very much thank you president Walsh Diana dear Diana thank you so much nothing could make me happier than to be here at home honoring
1:11 you because you have been the remarkable star at Welsley it is an honor to have been asked by you distinguished faculty and trusties and parents and alums and friends and members of the class of 2007 I am also a yellow fellow though we didn't exactly call ourselves golden I like it I am very
1:42 honored to be with you here on this long awaited day and I have to say to president Walsh I want to add my voice to all of those who have already extended congratulations for your remarkable service Welsley is not just a top it is the best college and influence for good not only in America but around the world and you have nurtured it you dear Diana every
2:14 step of the way and we are all very very grateful to you to the parents who are here let me just say that as the mother of three college graduates I expect you are as amazed as I was about how short the interval between diapers and diplomas to Welsley alumni and I am a very very proud one this is a day rich in memory I can't help but recall
2:46 my own College years I lived up there behind in Severance my time actually took place roughly halfway between the invention of the handheld BlackBerry and the discovery of fire the world then was a little bit different the pace wasn't so fast I don't know if there's anybody in this audience that might remember that but in those days our phone still had cords our mail still had stamps our cameras still
3:19 had film and when we wanted to find the web we didn't click on a mouse we dusted in the corner I loved this college and this campus and in fact I'm tempted to tell the class of 2007 that you've just spent the best years of your lives but my purpose is to celebrate you not to depress you and besides I'm sure that your time here has prepared you for many wonderful years to come so and as we
3:49 mark this day we're concerned by the insecurity and Injustice that result from the Dark Side of globalization widening the gap between the rich and poor and endangering the environmental health of our planet all of which is another way of saying class of 2007 you have a lot of work to do you are the leaders of tomorrow and it will be your job to pick up the Baton so often mishandled by the leaders of today
4:20 for inspiration I can think of no more moving story than that involving a passenger on United flight 93 which went down and Pennsylvania on 911 that passenger Tom Bernett called his wife from the hijacked plane having realized by then that two other planes had crashed into the World Trade Center I know we're going to die he said but some of us are going to do something about it and because they did many other lives were saved since that awful
4:52 morning the memory of their heroism has uplifted us and it should also instruct us because when you think about it I know we're going to die is a wholly unremarkable statement each of us here this morning could say the same thing it is Bernett next words that were both matter of fact and electrifying some of us are going to do something about it those words it seems to me convey the fundamental challenge put To Us by life
5:21 I expect that you've benefited most from leaders whose faces will never appear on television from the reliable presence of a parent the outstretched hand of a friend the extra effort of a teacher and the example of a classmate Who challenged you to do better than you have ever previously done wisdom comes from the ability to believe in ideas while maintaining respect for the rights and beliefs of others we celebrate the achievements of Mahatma Gandhi Eleanor
5:52 Roosevelt Martin Luther King Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela because they believed deeply but also because they embraced broadly the Triumph they sought was a victory not of some but of all this is the kind of leadership we yearn for today it's not my intention this morning to place the weight of the world on your shoulders for that will always be the job of your parents but I do hope that when you accept your diplomas you will be so
6:24 determined to live life boldly with largess of spirit and generosity of heart and I hope you will use the knowledge gained here at this magnificent college to be more than a consumer of Liberty but also a Defender and enricher of it that you will be doers not Drifters and that by your actions you will each add luster to Welsley name and to your own it is said that all work that is worth doing is done in faith and this morning I hope
6:56 you will each embrace the faith that every challenge Sur Ed by your energy every problem solved by your wisdom Every Soul awakened by your passion and every barrier to Justice brought down by your determination will en Noble your own lives Inspire others and explode outward the boundaries of what is achievable on this Earth so to the golden class of 2007 I say again congratulations go get them and show
7:27 them what Welsley women do w