With an acknowledgement of the past and an anticipation of a new, global future, Northwestern’s graduating class of 2002 gathered one last time.
Ryan Field, accustomed to being a home for screaming students, was met Friday with a cheer not to congratulate a winning football team but to celebrate the end of the students’ NU education.
The normal traditions of graduation were present at Friday’s commencement ceremony – including caps with messages such as “Thank God” and airplane fly-bys with messages like “Congratulations” – but so was a different theme.
At the commencement ceremony for NU’s first class to graduate since Sept. 11, heartfelt speeches honoring the graduates’ families were mixed with messages of global service and activism, including the keynote speaker Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations.
Annan, who has led the UN since 1997 and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the organization in 2001, was the highlight of the ceremony for many students. His speech encouraged graduates to evaluate the world they were entering through different lenses than those used before Sept. 11.
“Issues that once seemed very far away are suddenly very close to home, as if they were in your backyard,” Annan said. “As someone once said about water pollution, ‘We all live downstream.'”
a global challenge
Along with the new environment comes a new responsibility, according to Annan. He urged the graduates to look at ways they could become involved in solving some of the problems that have dominated the recent international agenda.
“Each of you has more power than you probably realize,” Annan said. “As young people, you have a wealth of energy and idealism that many of your elders, including myself, may lack.”
A key to this is service, Annan said. This was a theme mentioned by several speakers at the ceremony. University President Henry Bienen told graduates that he hopes they lead happy and fulfilled lives and that this includes creating lives that help others.
“If you live lives that are lives of service, we at the university will be proud of you,” Bienen said.
Annan suggested that the type of service the graduates should devote themselves to is the fight against global poverty. He said that poverty is a complex issue concerning not only human rights but also national security.
He noted NU students have already been involved in projects that concerned this, including the urban renewal projects in Chicago and homeless shelters and AIDS clinics as part of Alternative Spring Break.
Although the issue of poverty is not an issue that arises naturally at a commencement ceremony, Annan said the way the graduating generation thinks about poverty is a key to a prosperous 21st century.
“I would even go so far as to say that wrestling with the complexities of global poverty can help you answer the other vexing questions, questions that may sneak up on you tomorrow, once your heads clear and your relatives clear out,” Annan said.
He said as students finish college they will find a strong need to reflect on their purpose and place, no matter how much they may have planned, and he hopes they choose to see themselves as global citizens.
“Tomorrow you may sense that the world is waiting for you to decide who you are and what you stand for,” Annan said.
from tragedy to community
Bringing Annan to NU was an accomplishment for the university. In 1999, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright canceled at the list minute due to a breakthrough for peace in Kosovo. The university has drawn such notable names as former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the last five years.
But several people said bringing Annan was especially significant this year. Jia Cobb, a Weinberg graduate who introduced Annan at graduation, said it was a great honor to have Annan speak and she respected him as a person who “never been one to step down from controversy.”
“Under (Annan’s) vision and humane leadership, the U.N. has become revitalized to deal with the most vital problems of our time,” Cobb said.
Students responded to the speech by saying they were glad to have such a famous speaker.
“I thought it was very eloquent. I didn’t know what he was gonna talk about with all the tragedy,” said Medill graduate Katie Balicki. “And he took a positive note.”
Weinberg graduate Amanda Muhs said she was inspired by Annan’s message of global poverty and thought it was a good message for her class.
“Northwestern sometimes lacks a sense of community,” Muhs said. “His speech really emphasized how we are a community of people all over the world. We’re all connected, and we can all touch each other’s lives even in small ways.”
‘the whole thing went by so fast’
Community was of interest to Ava Youngblood, McCormick ’79, president of Northwestern Alumni Association. She told the graduates she hoped they would stay connected to NU.
“You are the newest generation of leaders, Youngblood said. “Your success will enhance the the university and its mission.”
It was with excitement and some trepidation that the class of 2002 departed from this community.
“I’m sad to leave friends,” said Music graduate Julie Lee. “But I am very excited for the future.”
When the ceremony was finished, the graduates were met with pictures for the future and memories of the past. One mother said as her family prepared for the graduation, their thoughts turned to the beginning of college and how far her son had come.
“We were thinking about his dorm room and clean sheets,” said Nancy Bello, mother of Weinberg graduate Robert Bello. “(NU) went by so fast.”
As the graduates went their separate ways and received their individual diplomas, they ended four years together. But for many the memories and traditions will last a lifetime.
The Rock had already been painted with an away message from seniors, but Annan offered his own two-part message for the NU tradition: first, “We’re all in this together,” and second, “Class of 2002: We’re counting on you.”
The Summer Northwestern’s Adam Williams, John J. Hughes III, Ben Figa and Angela Schneider contributed to this report.
