| COMMENCEMENT 2000 |
| Larger Cause |
| Richard C. Holbrooke, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, first reflected on his own HWS connection, then delivered a message of public service and global concern to the Classes of 2000. |
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By Mary LeClair |
| Photos by Clayton Adams, Pat Blakeslee, and Dana Cooke |
As the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke spends more time in the other Geneva, but his fondness for this Geneva was evident as soon as he began the Commencement address to the Classes of 2000.
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| Panorama. As always, Commencement drew roughly 5,000 graduates, family members, and other participants, nearly filling the Quad. |
Though he would offer a call to public service and compassion toward African nations, the U.S. Ambassador first let the crowd seated throughout the Colleges’ Quadrangle on this muggy morning know how very connected he was to Hobart and William Smith. In attendance with him at the June 11 ceremony was his son, David, member of the Hobart Class of ’87.
“This is a very big occasion for me personally. I’ve graduated from Hobart dad to Hobart and William Smith grad,” said Holbrooke, who had just received an honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters.
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Shared Past. Commencement speaker Richard C. Holbrooke had been invited by HWS President (right), a colleague from Geran's days as director of the Peace Corps. |
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The occasion was the 175th Commencement for Hobart College and the 89th for William Smith College. On this day, when threatening weather built but then offered only a 10-minute episode of drizzle, diplomas were granted to 194 Hobart men and 221 William Smith women.
During the ceremony, an honorary degree was granted also to long-time board member Judith Haslam Cross ’52. Cross was honored for more than 40 years of service to the Colleges, including her leadership roles in two successful fund-raising campaigns.
When his turn came, Ambassador Holbrooke smiled into what was then still a bright sun, over a sea of eager graduates—several with the traditional “Hi Mom” on their mortarboard. Holbrooke praised the HWS faculty for the excellent education they have given his son, and singled out Lee Quinby, professor of English and the Donald R. Harter ’39 Professor, as one of his son’s favorites. He described how he had stopped at Uncle Joe’s Restaurant on his way into Geneva to visit the place where, he joked, his son “conducted most of his academic research.”
He then turned earnest, noting his admiration of the Colleges’ new president and citing President Mark Gearan as an exemplar for students to follow.
“I’m particularly proud to be part of the first commencement of my friend Mark Gearan, who has had such a distinguished public career,” he said. “Mark Gearan illustrates best the combination of private and public roles . . . that is public service.
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“I would hope that you give part of your life to something larger than yourself. It doesn’t have to be in government. . . . If your public service is through a non-governmental organization, a community organization, that’s fine, but give something of yourself to some larger cause. We are too rich a country not to. We are too powerful and self-confident a country to be selfish, and sometimes we have been selfish lately,” Holbrooke said.
Holbrooke went on to single out Africa as the part of the world which must be helped. “Over and over again, I am told by people that Africa is hopeless, the problems are too enormous, and we shouldn’t waste our money there. And I respectfully disagree. . . .
“If we don’t pay attention to Africa, we don’t devote some of our efforts to working with the veteran leaders of Africa to improve their lot, in the end the problems will come home. You can not draw a wall around a single continent,” he said, earning applause from the audience.
Holbrooke’s talk was followed by senior speeches given by Michael T. Harms of Hobart College and jointly by Erin M. Zipfel and Ekaterina Papaioannou of William Smith College. Harms playfully donned a white chef’s hat and held a spatula as he compared the breadth of experiences in his liberal arts education to the ingredients in cooking. “Over the last four years, we’ve been collecting ingredients and learning how to cook. From across a range of courses, our professors have been our master chefs, showing us countless tools and techniques. If the disciplines are our ingredients, professors teaching subjects from sociology to physics to dance have given us a broad range of ingredients and flavors with which to cook and it has been up to us to develop our own recipes,” Harms said.
Standing side-by-side at the podium, Papaioannou and Zipfel reflected on their lives today compared with four years ago. “With the help of the opportunities offered to us by this institution, we became empowered through our own actions,” Zipfel said. “From orientation to graduation, if we learned something in between, it’s the power of collaborating—not only believing in yourself, but believing in others.”
After the diplomas were distributed, President Gearan concluded the ceremony reminding the Classes of 2000 that the Colleges will always be with them and has empowered them. (See page 2 for more of Gearan’s speech).
“As you drive out of Geneva, look at the passenger side mirror of your car. It says ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.’ Well, so, too, for Hobart and William Smith. It will be closer than it appears for you in life. In fact, it will always be with you—in the academic preparation you have received; the friendships made, and the memories of this wonderful place.”