Thousands of relatives and friends of the Northwestern class of 2007 gathered on Ryan Field Friday for NU’s 149th commencement ceremony. The crowd’s energy was palpable as the graduates filed onto the field. Also on hand were members of the class of 1957, in town to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of their commencement.NU President Henry Bienen said he was very proud of the class of 2007, whose students won a number of honors. Approximately 1,890 students graduated from NU’s six undergraduate schools. A record twenty-eight graduates were awarded prestigious Fulbright Scholarships, which sends scholars abroad to conduct research or lecture.”I like all my classes, but I think this was a particularly good class,” Bienen said.Bienen said he was especially excited by the number of community service jobs the graduates were taking on, though he said he was also impressed by the students going to work on campaigns for presidential candidates like Barack Obama and John Edwards.”(They’ll be doing) everything under the sun, from people who are going to teach in France to folks who are working for consulting firms or big banks,” he said. “It seemed to me the normal run of interesting jobs.”Julia Louis-Dreyfus Hall, best known as Elaine on the hit TV show “Seinfeld”, was this year’s commencement speaker.She said it felt surreal to be chosen as the commencement speaker, and that the campus had changed a lot since her time at NU. She said that one of her favorite things about NU was a man who used to drive around selling sandwiches on campus.”He was pretty awesome,” she said. “I (also) loved taking my theater classes and doing plays.”Dreyfus also said performing in NU’s annual Mee-Ow Show had a profound effect on her life and career.In her commencement speech, Dreyfus noted that after seeing that last year’s speaker was presidential hopeful Barack Obama, she was “appalled” to see that this year, the speaker would be an “aging sitcom actress.””You have managed to do something today spectacular, something important, something I never did despite years of trying,” she said, addressing the class of 2007. “You have graduated from Northwestern University.”While Dreyfus never graduated from NU, she has had a successful acting career. She won two Emmy Awards, one for “Seinfeld” in 1990 and another for her series “The New Adventures of Old Christine” in 2006. Dreyfus has also appeared as a guest star on hit shows such as “Arrested Development” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Dreyfus urged the class of 2007 to go out with their newly earned degrees and “do good” in the world. She offered them three pieces of advice: educate yourself, act in favor of what you believe in, and “don’t be an ass.””Be nice to people and be considerate,” she said. “Check in with yourself once in a while by asking ‘Am I being an ass?’ You’ll be surprised at how often the answer is yes.”Dreyfus said that with the privilege of a university education comes the responsibility of leadership.”What you may not do is nothing,” she said. “You have no right to apathy. Act, or the world ends.”Every NU graduate was given a Phillips energy-saving light bulb as a gift from the speaker, who is known for her activism as an environmentalist.She encouraged every student to go home and replace one light bulb in their home with the new one, saying that if every American household did this, enough energy would be saved in one year to power the entire state of Delaware.”That’s my cause,” she said. “Find yours – and through it, express your ideals.”Dreyfus was also one of five recipients of honorary doctoral degrees from the university. She received a Doctor of Arts from the School of Communication’s Theatre department for her work as an actress.Erin Sprague, a graduate of the School of Communication and this year’s student speaker, said she was glad to be able to offer all of her friends and professors a thank you for her time at Northwestern.”(NU has) really prepared me to be able to go out and know that whether or not I’m successful in money or fame, that I’ll have a good life that I’m proud of,” she said.Sprague, who was also a campus tour guide, said her favorite part of NU was working on New Student Week and attending football games.As the ceremony drew to a close and after the students sang the Alma Mater, Rabbi Joshua Feigelson, Hillel’s rabbi, offered the students a blessing from the Torah.”May God, the source of life, the source of mystery bless you and keep you,” Feigelson said. “May the light of God’s face shine upon you and make you glow with grace. May God’s face turn toward you and give you peace.”Weinberg graduate Chelsey Friedmann said the support of her family helped her make it through college. Studying abroad in Egypt was a particular NU highlight, she added.After graduating, Friedmann said she plans to move to Washington, D.C. to find a job. Her mother, Candace Friedmann, added that she thought NU was a great place where her daughter was able to grow and learn.”I think Northwestern was a place where she was able to become more well rounded… she met people that want to make a difference in the world,” said Candace Friedmann. “It’s a pretty special place.”